GoM's Coach
by KayleySayer
Summary: Kayley Sayer, a 16-year-old girl, who was raised by her beloved uncle, gained the heart to take a step into the future, leaving all the pain and the wounds of her past behind her. Accepting the request to be Teikou's assistant coach she experienced life with everything that this involves: happiness, friends, but also pain and despair. And in the end: For whom will she decide?
1. Prologue

**A/N: Actually I'm not really good at this kind of thing... But I'll try my best!**

* * *

She made her way as fast as possible to the café where he wanted to meet with her.

It was a sunny day and summer vacation just started.

Actually, she had been looking forward to this time in the year for a long time now, but too many things confused her and she couldn't think about anything else anymore.

She just wanted to forget about them, but found herself again thinking about them on her way to her destination.

Visibly exhausted she reached the café and was about to fix her clothing, when someone approached next to her, "You're late, but it's not like I expected anything else," the person sneered.

She raised her head to look into his eyes...

* * *

**Sooooorry :/**

**it's short, but I hope you nevertheless like it ^^**

**Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi. Only the OC's are mine!**

**And to let you know: The first few chapters will be a 'flashback' of her time in Teikou. I intend to let the actual story take part during high school life.**


	2. 1st Quarter - It all started that day

'The Teikou basketball team...?' she thought as she entered the gym.

Horai Itsuki, the assistant coach of the first basketball team in Teikou, summoned her to the gym during basketball practice. Actually she wasn't fond of the idea to watch the team practice, but eventually she couldn't refuse his invitation. This is why the brunette made her way to the gym after the lessons were over.

She knew she had disgust written all over her face, when she opened the double doors revealing the inside of the gym, where the school's prodigies, the first basketball team, were practicing. As soon as she closed the doors a pinkish haired girl appeared in front of her smiling friendly.

"Hey there, you must be Sayer Kayley, the student, Coach Horai summoned, am I correct?" the pinkette asked.

Not in the mood to talk to the happy manager, due to the fact that she was already distracted with examining the pink-haired girl, she just nodded her head in confirmation. The manager just smiled at her and motioned her to follow her to the bench where Coach Horai was sitting.

The practice was still ongoing and no one of the players seemed to have noticed her arrival. Even the coach was focused examining the players.  
They were competing in a five-on-five practice match at that time.

The pink-haired girl called out to him to get his attention and he thereupon looked their way not losing his focus at all. After he blinked one time the serious look in his eyes was gone.

"Seems like you finally made your way here, Sayer-san," smiling brightly, the coach welcomed her to the practice, "Make yourself comfortable."  
He motioned for her to sit next to him on the bench. Looking for the pinkette she did what he wanted her to. But the girl she was looking for was already gone.

"Her name is Momoi Satsuki. She is the manager of our basketball team. Even though she seems to be no one special, she isn't just a normal fangirl-like manager. But by your way of examining her, I think you can already tell about her powers," he answered the unspoken question, "To be honest, her ever-happy attitude may be annoying sometimes, but altogether she is a really nice and reliable manager."

"Hmmm..," she just answered already concentrating on the players.

'Even though they are called the first basketball team in Teikou and they are a team of high standing, there is no way they are perfect. But every player seems to think they are...'

Coach Horai noticed her staring at the players and grinned mischievously knowing what thoughts might run through her head at that instant.

"You don't have to grin like an idiot, it doesn't suit you. Despite you are one, "she whispered displeased by his staring, while she put a strand of hair behind her ear, but her eyes have never left the players.  
"So cruel~" Coach Horai beside her whined, pouting childishly.

'Another loss, even though one of his teammates was free all the time. Haven't he noticed it? No. He has clearly seen his teammate, but decided to try to break through on his own...'

Already wholeheartedly acting like a four-year-old boy who just got rejected, Horai truly was impatient and wasn't pleased with the fact that the girl beside him was giving her best attention to the practicing team and he himself was simply ignored by her.

"Come on, Sayer-san. I know you know what I've summoned you for. And I'm sure you can't refuse me~" he said giggling in his annoying - as Kayley would say - childish mood. His eyes were already sparkling with joy knowing that he hold something over her head.

'No one noticed me chatting with Coach Horai, but no one seems to focus on the practice game. What is distracting the players?'

"Instead of examining my players, why don't we play some basketball ourselves?" Coach Horai gestured to the other half of the gym, "Since there are but twelve players present, they can stick with half the court. It's just practice after all. So, why don't we play a little one-on-one? Furthermore you are already wearing sport clothes."

'He knows the answer and however tries to convince me?'

As Kayley wanted to decline his offer, he cut off her words, "I know you don't want to, you don't have to tell me. But I want you to and I think there is no other way to stop you from staring at my guys."

All in all, it wasn't a suggestion to begin with; he demanded it.

He finally stood up from the bench and offered her his hand. His mischievous grin turned into a friendly smile. She clutched the hem of her shirt and closed her eyes lowering her head reconsidering her next actions carefully.

Coach Horai didn't move at all. He just stood there, waiting for her to accept his offer.

'I can't decline his offer and he is fully aware of this...'

"Just this time," she hissed through gritted teeth, still not looking at him. She grabbed his offered hand and followed him to the half of the gym that wasn't used for practice.

"The first one to achieve five baskets should be the winner. I'll be on offense first. If I make the basket it is your turn. Instead of getting a point when the defender manages to steal the ball, he should try to make a basket himself. But why don't we make a little bet," Horai suggested, "If I win, you have to accept my request."

"And if I win?" She asked, waiting for him to return from fetching a basketball.

Haven't recieved an answer, she raised her head and her brown eyes looked directly into his brown eyes.

"If you win, I will never bother you about basketball again and be your slave for one week."

Now it was her turn to grin, "You seem to be sure of yourself. But make sure to be careful, unless you want to dig your own grave."

He slowly started dribbling the ball as an response.

"Coach Shirogane is watching us. I can't back down now."  
His expression got serious.

'Shirogane Kouzou, the head coach...'

She positioned herself between Horai and the basket and got into a defensive stance. Horai carried on dribbling the ball.

Fully aware that Momoi and Coach Shirogane as well as the whole team, who stopped their practice match as soon as they recognized their coach playing one-on-one against a girl even younger than themselves, were watching them, they started their one-on-one battle.

"Isn't little missy sweet? To think she would stand a chance against Coach Horai," one of the players laughed loudly. Some nodded in agreement, some laughed.

"You shouldn't judge someone by their appearance. Coach Horai would never accept a challenge his opponent wouldn't be able to win. At least she should be able to score one basket. But by the way he is looking at her, you can clearly see that she is hold in high esteem by him," someone argued.

"If you say so, Nijimura," one scoffed.

'Nijimura? I think I have to remember that name.'

"Well, I think you should be able to at least score one point against me, don't you think? Ready to fight, little missy?" Coach Horai asked grinning. Apparently, she wasn't the only one to eavesdrop.

Grinning herself, she nodded, "You bet I am!"  
As soon as she did, he started running towards her, dribbling the ball.

Aiming for the basket, he tried to dribble past her.

'You are too slow...' She thought intervening in his movements. Now it was her turn. Trying to steal the ball back he circled her without success. Her movements were too fast for him to catch up and in a very shot period of time she scored her first basket. A simple lay-up.

1-0

"How did she...?" the one laughing earlier was at a loss of words.

Horai quickly got the ball and tried to dribble past her again. But she knew he wouldn't try the same move a second time. Trying to get past her along her left side, he instantly changed positions and wanted to dribble past on her right side. And he failed. Again she managed to steal the ball without much effort. And again the basket counted in her favour.

2-0

Coach Horai took his stance, but this time he didn't try to get past her. Knowing she wouldn't reach the ball he shot it in an high arc into the basket.

2-1

"Still not giving up, huh?" she grinned and he did the same.

He passed her the ball and she started dribbling.

'But you shouldn't think I can't do it myself,' Kayley thought and copied his high arc instead of dribbling past him. The only difference between their shots were the height and speed. Even though the arc of his shot was higher, it couldn't match up with the speed with which the ball she shot hit the basket.

3-1

Aware that she would simply copy his high arc again, he tried to dribble past her, this time with more force. It was obvious that he didn't intend to lose. This wasn't a regular one-on-one. It was a high pace game between the two of them and neither wanted the other to make the next basket. Neither wanted to accept a defeat that easily.

3-2

'He simply used his advantage of height against me.'  
She gritted her teeth, seeing Horai successfully dunk the ball and score a point.

Afterwards he passed her the ball and she prepared herself. She didn't success in dribbling past him to plainly make a lay-up again. Quickly taking one step backwards, she nevertheless started the lay-up procedure some distance away from the basket. Knowing what she was up to, Horai failed in trying to stop the shot. Quickly releasing the ball from her hand it made an high arc straight into the basket.

4-2

"A teardrop!" She just managed a teardrop!" Someone shouted, but the two ignored it, too preoccupied by their battle.

Nevertheless Horai wasn't the one to give up that easily.

"Why don't we start to take our challenge serious?" she asked him, looking at him, dribbling the ball in front of her eyes.  
He hummed and started running again. Trying to get past her he wanted to outsmart her in a mind game. Faking a drive along the left side, while doing it on the right instead, but still knowing that she would expect his movements, and trying to get past her on her left side.  
Not startled at all, she touched the ball which he was dribbling with his left hand, but he quickly switched to his right as quickly as she got in his way again, using the opportunity to get the ball by stealing it with her right hand, while he was dribbling it with his right and shielded it with her body afterwards.

They both reached their limit due to this game. You could say they were equal in strength and speed. But they still differed. To her advantage.

It was her turn now and she dribbled past Coach Horai as fast as she could. Too late did he notice she was already past him. Trying to prevent her from scoring, he used his height against her and blocked her way.

But she was serious to win this game. She stopped dribbling and quickly took a step backwards and jumped, but he caught up and jumped as well. To increase the likelihood that Horai wouldn't be able to touch the ball and thereby distract it in it's arc, she leaned backwards in her jump and used a fadeaway shot. Despite all her efforts, Horai was able to touch the ball with his fingertip and interfered in it's arc.

Unfortunately for her - it missed.

The first shot successfully blocked, Horai wanted to stop her from rebounding, but it was no use. She already went for the ball and dunked it (despite her height of 5.6 ft) with only her right hand into the basket in an instant.

5-2

It was her win.

She looked around the gym to see everyone gasping at her small little figure, still hanging on the hoop, in awe. As Horai approached next to the basket she let go and landed almost silently next to him.

"So she is the one you chose, Itsuki-kun," Shirogane revealed, approaching them.

Disbelieving murmuring started between the players, while they gathered around them.

Horai nodded, facing the team, "Let me introduce you to my new personal assistant. She will be responsible for you, as long as Coach Shirogane and Coach Sanada are abroad."

"What!?" everyone including the brunette yelled.

* * *

**Here's the first chap for you guys ;)  
Nothing special in particular, but I hope U like it!**

**In case you're wondering:  
'...' are supposed to be Kayley's thoughts.**

**Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi. Only the OC's are mine =)**


	3. 2nd Quarter -What do you want me to be?

**2nd Chapter :3**

* * *

She was at a loss of words. To tell the truth: She had already known the reason, because of which he invited her to watch the practice, but she was actually all but certain that he would change his mind.

'I thought he would never tell the team about the reason of me watching their practice. He really does want me to train them, huh?'

Coach Shirogane, Coach Horai as well as Momoi and the team gazed towards her.

"You can't be serious about that!" She just blurted out, staring at Horai with widened eyes, but she lost herself in his eyes, as soon as she saw the serious expression in his eyes and started contemplating whether to accept the invitation. Though it actually wasn't an invitation; it was more of like a command.

'Why? He knows my reason for not playing anymore. So why does he want me to train them. I've already won against him despite I had not wanted to play basketball at all.'

She gritted her teeth. Anxiety crawled down her skin, not liking the fact that he revealed his plans to the team.

His expression didn't change and he didn't even twitch a brow. He was deadly serious about it. Deadly serious about her being his assistant and coaching the first basketball team of Teikou.

"But she is just a first-year," one of the players sneered, "Her skills of playing may be high-class, but she is just thirteen years old by chance. There is no way she could teach us."

The other players started murmuring, agreeing with the statement.

"But she will train you," Coach Shirogane said.

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

"I myself wasn't aware of her skills of playing basketball. Truth to be told, I didn't even know her name. Itsuki-kun told me about someone he knows who would be able to even improve the basketball Teikou plays. It's not hard to understand that I wouldn't believe his words. But I can tell from the instant I saw her style of playing that she isn't just someone regular. She may be a first-year and she may be just a little girl in your eyes, but when Itsuki-kun thinks she can change you and improve your way of playing basketball, I will trust his decision. You should at least give her the chance to show you what she is made of."

'Coach Shirogane...?'

Everyone looked at her, waiting for her reaction - waiting for her decision. And secretly wanting her to refuse.

'He said he wouldn't bother me with this topic anymore, but I can't refuse Coach Horai and now even Coach Shirogane tries to convince me. Seems like I really am cornered right now. Even though I would really like to, I can't back down anymore.'

She took her time to weigh up the excuses she could think of, but it was no use. To put it straight: Refusing Coach Horai was like refusing herself.  
She bit her lower lip and let her eyes wander around, observing the team she would train. She thought of what will happen to her, if she ever accepts the invitation of being the assistant coach. She didn't join any club yet nor did she see something that caught her interest, but considering the circumstances, she wasn't able to back down. Heaving a big sigh, she put her gaze on Coach Shirogane, who simply nodded as though he allowed her to speak up.

"I accept the request," she announced, directing her gaze at the team which stared at her with a mixture of disgust and disbelief written all over their faces. She again heaved a big sigh and started, "I may be just a little missy in your eyes, but this is a request I can't refuse. Even though I originally was averse to training you. But I can't accept you looking down on me. Let me show you my true self and my skills despite being just a first-year. I hereby ask for your permission in order to be trained by me."

"Tsk," one of the players started his voice full of disgust, "You want to train us? Oh, please. You wouldn't survive just one week. Don't be so sure of yourself. It is just as you said yourself, little missy. You shouldn't mess around with the big guys."

"Stop it, Haizaki."

Everyone gasped at the one who raised his voice.

'Nijimura-senpai?'

"But...!?"

"No buts," he spat angrily. It was obvious that Haizaki and he weren't on good terms.  
"It isn't your turn to decide this matter. Coach Shirogane didn't ask for permission, he made it an order. Even though you don't want to be trained by someone younger than yourselves, you have to obey his order."

"H-Hai!" they answered in unison.

"You will now continue practice," Coach Shirogane ordered. After the players bowed and went to the court to continue their practice he glanced at the brunette, wearing a warm expression.  
"And I think Momoi-san will gladly be the one to show you around, miss?"

She smiled at him and answered his unspoken question and bowed, "Sayer Kayley. Thank you for accepting me as Coach Horai's assistant."

"Sayer-san. If you have any questions please ask Momoi-san about it. I will talk to Coach Horai in the meantime."

"Come on!" Momoi said happily, grabbing her wrist and pulling her along.

She showed her the locker rooms and introduced her to the other teams and their players. Everyone accepted her help and appreciated it.

'Guess I have to convince the first team to accept my help like the others do...'

"And here we are again. This court is only used by the first team for practice and for games against other schools."

She nodded and looked at the team practicing. Momoi must have seen her staring, because she soon spoke up again.

"Don't worry. I'm sure they will accept you. You just have to show them how serious you are and what you are made of, Sayer-san!" the pinkette said, smiling brightly at her.

The brunette replied to her smile and plainly said, "Kayley is just fine."

The pinkette's face lit up even more and she grabbed both of Kayley's hands in disbelief.

"Really? Does this mean we are friends?"

"I guess so..," Kayley answered sheepishly.

And suddenly she hugged her tightly. Taken aback by her actions Kayley's eyes widened.

"Thank you a lot, Kayley-chan!"

"You're welcome, Satsu-chan."

"Satsu-chan?"

"Is there a prob-," she started but was soon interrupted by Satsuki.

"I really like it!" Her jumpy mood made herself feel happier, "You have to know, I am a first-year myself and it isn't easy at all being the only feminine in the basketball club, but now I have someone to talk to!"

Satsuki smiled even brighter.  
'I'm sure I'll get along with her!'

She handed Kayley her phone and they exchanged numbers.

"Practice is over now. Let us call it a day!" Coach Shirogane announced. Everyone made their way to the locker rooms to change clothes.

"I have to go home now. See you tomorrow!" Satsuki said, already on her way out of the gym, waving her goodbye.

Kayley sat down on a bench, waiting for Coach Horai to return.

One by one the players made their way out of the locker rooms and to the exit of the gym. No one sent her a friendly smile, no one even just gazed in her direction.  
'It's obvious that they are annoyed, but do they really have to make me feel unpleasant?'

Instead of complaining about her situation, she simply closed her eyes ignoring the members of the team and thought about nothing in particular still waiting for Horai to return.  
Lost in the world inside her head, she didn't recognize someone approaching her, until the person spoke up.

"What are you still doing here?" Someone asked suddenly.

She opened her eyes and in front of her stood Nijimura, the captain of the team.

He raised his brow, impatiently waiting for her to reply. His bag was casually slung over his shoulder and he was ready to go home. Sweat was still dripping from his skin, prove that he had practiced until then.

"I'm just waiting for Coach Horai," she answered honestly, but she still was surprised that he talked to her voluntarily.

"You have... issues with him to discuss?" Nijimura again raised his brow, which was slightly amusing her.

"I think you can put it this way, yes."

"Say, what is your relationship with Coach Horai?"

Thinking about her respond, she took her time until she spoke up. She didn't want him to know about their relationship, but lying wasn't an option either.

"I don't know actually to what extent it matters for you," she had to admit that this guy was kind of annoying her with his questioning. However she tried to be nice and answered his questions honestly, as far as possible.

"Well, I'm the captain after all and I couldn't come up with any other explanation," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Explanation what for?" she asked, though she knew the answer already.

"For you getting the position as his assistant and our part-time coach."

"Hmmm," she just answered, not knowing what to respond. Besides, she wasn't in the mood to discuss about the reason for something she actually never wanted to be.

"By the way..." she started gaining his attention, "Thank you for defending me today. I really appreciate it."  
After she said that, she gave him one of her rare honest smiles. Although, she was kind of annoyed by him, he didn't do anything so far to hurt her. This is why she still wanted to be nice to him, especially because he was the one she had to talk to the most, considering that he was the captain of the team.

'I can't judge him right now. I have to try to be nice first!"

He simply "tch"ed before he responded, "Don't think I did it for your sake. It was an order from our coach and we aren't allowed to disobey him. It's not like I did it for you in particular."

Even though he tried to hide it, she was able to see a slight blush coming up his cheeks.

He continued speaking with his deep male voice, but this time he sounded less threatening, "But I have to admit that your style of playing basketball is really marvellous. It caught my attention. You seemed to be determined to win, but enjoying yourself at the same time."

"Thank you very much," she said, still smiling.  
'Guess he is nice after all, though he seems to be suspicious.'

"Sorry, but I didn't get your name," Nijimura stated, interrupting her thoughts.

"Sayer Kayley," she answered, "But Kayley is just fine."

She stretched her hand out for him to take.

"Nijimura Shuuzou," he said, gladly excepting her outstretched hand and shaking it, "Second-year student and the captain of Teikou's first basketball team."

"I'm looking forward to working with you, Nijimura-senpai."

"Just call me Shuuzou," he offered, a smile approaching his face.

"Seems like you've already introduced yourselves," Coach Horai stated from behind her. Kayley let go of Shuuzou's hand to turn around and face him.

"Coach Shirogane's already gone home. You should be on your way by now as well, Nijimura-kun."

The dark-haired nodded and grabbed his bag readying himself,  
"See you next time, Coach Horai. See you tomorrow, Kayley-chan."  
He waved, smiling at her.

"Oh, by the way. Since this is your first year and the year just started, do you want me to show you around tomorrow?"

Again a slight blush approached his cheeks.

"I would like you to," she said smiling.

He nodded, "I will pick you up at the front gate during lunch time, okay? I will show you around and we can eat lunch together afterwards!" and waved a last time, opening the double doors and making his way home.

Now she was all alone with Coach Horai.

"Got yourself a boyfriend, I assume?" He smirked, stepping up to her.

"Did not!" She fought back, smacking him over his head.

Ignoring the pain he chuckled, "Just joking. Did something happen during the time I've talked to Coach Shirogane?"

"Nothing interesting in particular. But Shuuzou asked me about the relationship of you and I."

"We have to be careful. He isn't easy to trick."

"I've already recognized that one. Guess he tries to make me speak by chumming up with me."

"Just let us try to keep it a secret as long as possible."

"I think you are right."

"By the way, Shuuzou?"

"Problem with that?" She said, laying down on the bench and staring at the ceiling.

"Still on first name basis I see," Coach Horai chuckled lightly, "But I didn't expect you to open up to anyone today. After all you were thrown in at the deep end by me."

"Well, weren't you the one who said that I have to go into the future?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Consider it my way of starting to live again," she finally closed her eyes, completely tired.

She was almost asleep by the instant she closed her eyes. Coach Horai switched out the lights and picked up their things as well as her almost sleeping self.

"Put me down, I'm still able to walk on my own..," she mumbled.

"It's fine, close your eyes and sleep. You deserve it, Lilly."  
His sweet words were the only things she heard before she completely fell asleep.


	4. 3rd Quarter - Truth to be told

**Piep, piep, pieeeeep,...**

'Annoying... Just let me sleep...'

She thought ignoring her alarm clock and continued dreaming.

'Just ten more minutes.'

She soon fell asleep again.

.

.

"...ley, Kayley,... hey, Kayley!" Horai shouted at the brunette.

"I'm awake, I'm awake!" She answered sleepily covering herself with the blankets he just took away.

"You have to hurry, otherwise you will be late for school," he simply said, smiling at her childish behaviour. Every time she acted this childish, he had to deter himself from cuddling her to death due to her cuteness.

"I will give you a lift since I don't have work to do today, but be sure that I'm not always able to do so."

She almost started to panic, but his words let her calm herself down.

"I prepared breakfast. When you have dressed yourself, come downstairs and we can eat together. We still have some time since we will be at school in no time, using my car."

Quickly jumping out off the bed, she started to get ready.

Stretching herself, she closed her eyes and heard Horai opening the window, letting the sun in.

Horai was already gone, as she opened her eyes again.

She was ready in no time, wearing her school uniform and finished packing her bag as well.

Jumping down the stairs, she sang a sweet melody.

"You seem to be in an awful good mood today," Horai greeted her, smiling at her as she opened the door to their kitchen.

She just nodded, continuing to skip to the table to have her breakfast.

They ate in silence, enjoying their breakfast.

"Tell me something about Shuuzou," she suddenly said, making Horai look up from his cup of tea.

"Nijimura-kun? What do you want to know? And why?"

She swallowed the food she was chewing and started, "He said, he only accepted me training them, because it was an order made by Coach Shirogane and you. But on the other hand, he tried to be nice to me and even invited me to eat lunch with him. Actually, I have to admit that he is a hard one to read."

"Hmmm," was the simple answer, she got from Horai.

"Furthermore, he is suspicious of our relationship and thinks that I was only accepted to be your assistant because of this very reason."

She then looked at him directly, waiting for his reply.

"Well?" She asked, her curiosity taking the upper hand, lifting her brow.

Sighing, he gave in to her pleading, "He's just a second-year, but compared to his teammates he is on a totally different level. Even though he is no match for a professional and he wasn't able to beat me in an one-on-one, his skills are most likely best of his team.  
Furthermore, he was the only one of the first string who joined the basketball club at the beginning of his first year at Teikou, being chosen as the captain by the former third-year one at the end of his first year. You probably can't call him a prodigy, but his skills are definitely above average."

Continuing to eat her breakfast she gazed outside the window to her left.

"You know that I wasn't asking for his skills."

"Why don't you just see for yourself what kind of person he is," he stated, ignoring her rudeness, "Actually, I don't know much about him myself and everytime I think I've learned something about him, his next actions make me doubtful about it. But generally speaking, even though it may be just my point of view, I think he is interested in you as well. Otherwise I don't think he would ask you to eat lunch with him."

"Mhhh..," was all he got in response, while she was chewing the rest of her breakfast, relishing and savoring every bite with utter satisfaction.

'Maybe I should just give him a chance, before I judge him...'

.

Classes just ended and it was now lunch time. It was Monday today and the second week of the school year just started.

Kayley already found out that she is currently visiting the same class as Satsuki.

Speaking of the devil:  
"Kayley-chan~, come on! I want to introduce you to one of my friends!" She exclaimed happily, giving the startled brunette no time to answer, as she dragged the poor girl with her to the front gate.

Little did she know that there was actually someone waiting for her friend.

They had almost reached the gate, when they saw two figures standing there, talking to each other.

"Dai-chan!" Satsuki shouted, as she recognized one of them as her friend she wanted to introduce Kayley to.

"Dai-chan!" She yelled again, when she got no response, grabbing the hand of the called one.

"What's with the yelling, Satsuki," he whined, rolling his eyes and looking directly at the girl his friend dragged along.

"And who are you?" He asked, looking at Kayley, visibly annoyed by the pinkette.

"I'm Sa-" she started, but was immediately interrupted by Satsuki's loud voice.

"Nijimura-senpai, what are you doing here at the front gate?" She asked, taking Shuuzou's side and looking at him in curiosity.

Watching her, Kayley sweatdropped and simply tried to ignore her yelling.

Shuuzou, visibly overstrained by the sudden question, gazed in Kayley's direction, waiting for her to explain the situation.

The minute Satsuki recognized him staring at her new friend, she squealed happily.

"Awww~. Nijimura-senpai was waiting for Kayley-chan. Kawaii~."

Shuuzou blushed instantly at her comment and so did Kayley, but neither tried to deny it, because Satsuki was already dragged away by 'Dai-chan'.

"Dai-chan, you are hurting me," she winced, as he grabbed her wrist and dragged her towards the entrance of the school building.

But he turned around one more time.

"By the way, sorry for this little brat."

"Oi!"

Ignoring Satsuki who was struggling to get free, he flashed Kayley a kind smile.

"I'm Aomine Daiki!" He stated.

"Sayer Kayley," She gave him one of her sweetest smiles in respond.

"Hope to see you again soon, Kayley!" He shouted, already on his way back into the building, Satsuki, still being dragged by him, complaining about his behaviour.

"They sure are an annoying pair to deal with," Shuuzou stated, getting her attention.

She turned around to look at him and saw that his cheeks were still tinted slightly pinkish.

She chuckled, "Shall we get going?"

Shuuzou nodded and offered her his hand to take which she accepted gratefully and showed her around the school. The main building, the assembly hall, the school yard,... and last but not least he took her to the rooftop. The view was amazing. You could see the whole school yard from there.

While she was enjoying the view, Shuuzou got a basket and set up lunch for the two of them.

"Kayley," he called her, smiling sincerely.

Her eyes widened, as she saw the lunch he had prepared.

Instead of saying anything at all, he just motioned her to sit beside him.

She did what he told her to and sat down next to him.

"What did I do for this?" She asked, astonished by the lunch that was set up.

"Nothing in particular, I think. Consider it a welcome present from me."

He flashed her one of those smiles that would melt every girls heart.

"Though it's not like I would do this for anyone," he admitted, leaning closer to her.

She turned her head to face him, only to see his face inches apart from hers.

"Sh-Shuuzou..," she whispered, startled by his actions.

His hand made it's way to her cheek, while the other one was supporting her back, closing the gap between them.

He started caressing her cheek with his thumb and seemed to wait for something.

She couldn't take it any longer.

**Crack.**

Her hand seemed to move on it's own, but she didn't regret it though.

She slapped Shuuzou across the face, leaving a dark red mark on his cheek.

He covered his cheek with the hand he had slung around her waist by now, still avoiding to face her.

"Actually, I thought that you would just be a fangirl after all, but it seems like I'm proven wrong now."

'And actually I thought that I should open up to him, because he at least tried to be nice to me. But all he did was playing with me!'  
She tried to not let her emotions overwhelm her, but it was too late. Small tears started to from themselves and one stray tear escaped her eye to roll down her cheek.

'Why out of all people that are close to me in some way is he the one able to make me cry?'

Shuuzou must have recognized her sobbing, because he instantly looked at her trembling figure and as soon as he looked her directly in the eyes, his own one's widened.

"Kayley..," he whispered in a caring way as she lowered her head, avoiding his gaze.

Still considering what to do, he just hugged her and she started crying, soaking his uniform with her tears.

'Why?'

As soon as she became aware of her lying in the arms of the one who made her cry, she tried to escape his embrace, but it was no use. Shuuzou held her tight and his grasp was stronger as her will to get rid of his arms.

"Please... Don't go," his voice was trembling and sounded regretful.

Instead of struggling to free herself, she just let him stroke her back in a comforting way.

He held her even tighter when he started speaking,  
"Promise me. You won't run away until I told you the whole story, will you?"

'The whole... story?'

She shook her head and he started to explain, choosing his words carefully.  
"You know... I actually thought that you are just a fangirl, wanting to be close to the basketball club members. And since I am the captain of the first string, I just had to do some kind of research. Well, I just wanted to make sure you joined the team in order to train us. It's easy to tell that you're not an ordinary girl. Your way of playing basketball is amazing. Reaching for the top, while enjoying it wholeheartedly. This is the way I want everyone to do the things they like. And it is the way I want Teikou's basketball team to play. As hollow as it might ring, you have to believe me! Hurting your feelings was never my purpose. I just wanted to reassure myself that it wasn't just a dream."

Grabbing her shoulders, he gently pulled themselves apart, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Please teach us your basketball."

He was definitely serious.

'My basketball?'

Even though she tried to be tough, she couldn't take it anymore. As soon as Shuuzou finished his speech, tears started to form in her eyes again.

"Stop crying," he said, gently whipping the tears away with his thumbs, smiling at her apologetically, but she couldn't stop the tears from flowing.

'No... I can't..," she though, forcefully trying to free herself, but he just gripped her tighter, pulling her close again, 'Why is fate so cruel?'

"Listen," his voice sounded like he was far away, even though he was so close to her, "I won't force you to tell me anything, you don't want me to know about. But if anything is ever going to happen to you, just tell me right away."

'I'm totally speechless... and my voice is quivering as well...'  
Either way, she wasn't able to speak anyhow.

As soon as she stopped shedding tears, Shuuzou shifted and placed her on his lap, starting to stroke her hair. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes, relishing every moment.

"You know," Shuuzou started, grabbing her attention, while he pulled a photo out of his pocket. It showed him and a little girl, most likely about eight years old, sleeping peacefully, snuggled together.  
"You remember me of her. She is my little sister, Miako. Last year she died due to an illness..."

"Shuuzou..," Kayley gently touched his arm and wanted to speak up, but he motioned her to stay quiet and so she did.

"Miako... she was smiling cheerfully until she faded away."  
Tears started to form in his eyes now.  
"And she even visited all of my matches to cheer for me... Due too a cardiac defect she wasn't allowed to play basketball on her own, but she still enjoyed watching me play. But what I want to say is that I'm terribly sorry for making you cry. The times my sister cried were rare, but the times she did I always hated myself. Her burden was to hard for her to bear alone and I have to admit that I've always pitied her. It would have been fine with me to be the one to suffer from the disease... I thought I would never see her crying again..."

Pulling her even closer, he didn't intend to let go of her at all.

"Can we just stay like this a little longer?" He asked, his voice trembling.

There were no wise words to stop his bleeding, no words to heal the wounds inflicted on him.

'I may be mistaken, but I think I can understand why he distrusts everyone. Because he lost something precious to him, he is afraid of getting to know the people around him.  
After all I myself was in the situation to avoid others as well - because of the very same reason...'

* * *

**Cheesy~ ... -_-  
but I wanted to cut it short. Even though, Nijimura is one of my fave characters, I actually don't intend to make him the lover of my little heroin ;)  
As for his role in my story... just see for yourself =)**

**Sorry if he is a bit OOC**


	5. 4th Quarter - Breaking down the walls

Since that moment Shuuzou and Kayley were often seen together and he even walked her home after basketball practice sometimes.  
They grew very close to each other and considered each other as a sibling, even though they kept the reason secret from the others, not wanting anyone to get a wrong idea.

And even the basketball team slowly warmed up to her - or rather grew fond of her - and accepted her, considering her as their coach as well as a shoulder to cry on and called her their little sister.  
.

'Quietly... quickly...'

Making her way towards her room, she tried to be as quiet as possible. You want to know why? Because there was an unexpected guest, currently visiting Horai.  
And well... It would have been disadvantageous for him to know that she was living together with the Coach of Teikou's first string.

This is why she was tiptoeing along the floor, heading for her room.

It was a Friday afternoon and she just came home from school. Because they were running out of food, she had to stop by a groceries shop to buy the ingredients for today's dinner.

There she was now, carrying her school bag as well as the groceries to her room, trying hard not to make any noise. But the bags surely were heavy and she just passed Horai's door, when suddenly, to her utter dismay...

"Dakara itta ja nai ka, yowasa o uri shitatte mae ni nanka susume ya shinain de za~"

'Shimatta!'

Startled by the sudden ringing of her phone, she accidentally let go of one of the groceries bags and it fell to the ground. She shakily sighed in nervousness and peeked behind the curtains of her bangs and she was aware that her eyes openly showed fear.  
There were so many times to safely call her since school was over. But it just had to happen right in front of Horai's room, where he was currently chatting with their 'guest'.

"What was that?" Someone from behind the door to Horai's room asked. Even though there was a door between her and the voice, she could instantly identify the one it belonged to.

'No!'

As fast as possible, she picked up the bag and continued her way towards her destination, never averting her gaze off the door to Horai's room. Slowly making her way backwards, she just hoped nothing else would happen. Horai and she were both of the mind that no one should uncover the truth and by all people, she wanted him to be the last one to do so.

"Ahh, that was most likely just the cat."

'Wait, What!? A CAT!?'

Distracted by the thoughts about Horai insulting her pride, she stumbled due to an half-way opened door, falling backwards, landing on her butt.  
The groceries were all scattered on the floor and she was sitting there, rubbing her head, surrounded by the purchase.

'Ouch.'

**Creak.**

'For whatever reason, I am again the one to blame for this.'

She closed her eyes and lowered her head, not able to bear the crestfallen expression on his face. There was no escaping it.

"Tsk, and you are... Coach Horai's cat, I assume?" Their 'guest' sneered, looking down at her clumsy self.

"Shuu..zou..," her voice started to tremble. Said one just clicked his tongue, before turning on his heels to escape the awkward situation.

'I betrayed his trust...'  
Tears were already pouring down her cheeks and she had to admit that she hoped back then that he would just kneel down beside her and hold her tight like he did that day on the rooftop, half a year ago...  
Half a year ago. Depriving him of the truth, he on the contrary told her almost everything, there is to know about him, his past and his plans for the future.

"Do..n't go... Shuuzou..," her voice was still trembling and all she heard were the footsteps of him, leaving her behind, "Please, don't leave me..."

Instead of trying to regain her voice, she followed the leadings of her heart and ran after him. Before he was able to reach the stairs, she slung her arms around his waist, refusing to let him continue his way.

Neither of them moved and they just stood there. Trembling with fear that he would leave her, she strengthened her grip around his waist. Shuuzou, on the other hand, didn't move at all.

She snuggled her face against his back, absorbing his scent, relishing every bit of it.

"Nijimura-kun," Horai called out for him. Called turned his head in his direction, waiting for the coach to continue, so that he could leave the house as soon as possible, wanting to get rid of the girl that was clinging to his waist.

Feeling confident that he wouldn't leave immediately, he tried to get the attention of the crying brunette, "Don't you think the time has come to tell him the truth, Lilly? I'm aware that I was the one, who told you to keep it a secret, but now I think he deserves to know about your past."

His voice sounded calm and reassuring and she instantly hugged Shuuzou even tighter. Knowing that he wouldn't get any respond from the girl due to her emotional state, he simply tried to clear the situation without her approval.

"Why don't you stay for dinner, Nijimura-kun?" He asked with caution, "I think there are some things, Kayley wants to explain. Please, don't blame her alone, it was my idea all along to hide the truth. Give her the chance to apologize and to tell you the truth."

Shuuzou looked down at the trembling figure of the little brunette, who barely reached his bladebone, desperately clinging to his shirt to assure herself that he wouldn't vanish into thin air.  
But it was only after the point in time, when Horai didn't expect an answer from him anymore, that Shuuzou started to move.

Thinking that he wanted to free himself, Kayley squeezed him even closer, but he just reached inside his pocket, searching for something.  
When he found what he was looking for, he unsheathed his cell phone and dialed.

_"Shuuzou? What are you calling me for?" _A feminine voice asked audible addled, _"You know, that you wanted to be home already!"_

"Im sorry, mum," he answered, "But it seems that I got stuck. You don't need to wait for me, it's going to be late in the night until I return."

_"But Shuuzou..," _the person wanted to object to his declaration, but he had already hung up.

Turning around to face Horai, he caught the almost falling girl, who was taken aback by his sudden movement. Not letting go of her waist, his eyes covered by his bangs and his face lowered, he nodded to Horai, trying to hide his desperate, disappointed face from Horai's compassionate gaze, allowing her to see his face a fortiori.  
His eyes were squinted, but she could easily notice the pain he suffered. A stray tear left his eye and dropped on her cheek. It was the only one he shed.

Pitying their situation, Horai wasn't sure what to do to clear the air between the two teenagers in front of his eyes. Deliberating, whether it would be sensible to cede it to them, he nonetheless decided, mainly because it was his fault as well, to take the matters into his own hands.

He scarcely audible sighed due to the gloomy atmosphere, before he worked up the courage to speak up and cleared his throat, "Lilly,... Why don't you go downstairs and prepare dinner for the three of us?"  
The teenagers raised their heads to have a better look at him.  
"Meanwhile I will prepare the guest room for Nijimura-kun. And you, Nijimura-kun, can help either her or me, if you want to. We will talk afterwards."

After he announced his plans, he started to pick up the purchase, scattered on the floor. The brunette hesitated, but rushed to his side to help him, after she picked up her courage.  
They picked up the groceries and Horai handed her the bags. She reached for her school bag to carry it to her room first, but someone had already grabbed it and she looked up to see Shuuzou, standing in front of her.

"I'll take care of it," Shuuzou said, looking at the girl expressionless.

"Last door on the left side," Horai instructed, and he quickly made his way to her room, leaving the two of them behind.

"You alright, Lilly?" Horai asked carefully, as soon as Shuuzou was out of earshot. He knew how difficult it could be to deal with her in a state like this and he wasn't even sure, if she was still fighting back her tears.  
Unusual. Compared to her honest and brave behaviour and her habit of wearing a prideful face, even though she made a mistake, she was eager to correct it, to offer her apologies, she behaved quiet unusual. Rather - she didn't say anything at all. And he gave up on an answer from her.

Holding the bags with the groceries in her hands, she turned away from him and hesitated, before she slightly nodded - not caring if Horai noticed though - and made her way down the stairs into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

.

Cutting souns could be heard from inside the kitchen. The brunette was still preparing dinner, humming a sad melody, completely forgetting about her surroundings. Indulging in her memories, she suddenly stopped cutting and remembered a dream she had a long time ago.

.

_~ "Can you feel it?" Asked the wind._

_ The girl stopped crying.  
"What should I feel?"_

_ The wind blew even stronger and dried her tears._

_ "You are not alone!" He whispered. ~_

.

Lost in her own little world, she got startled, when Horai suddenly waved his hand in front of her face, bringing her back to the here and now. She blinked a few times, still confused, until she realized what had happened.

Noticing that the girl in front of him would listen to him, he started, "How long will it take for you to finish?"  
Even though he tried to hide it, his impatience was obvious for her.

'He really wants to get through with this...'

To calm him down she - although it was forcefully - smiled, "It won't take long. Please, set the table in the meantime."

Processing what she had just said, he nodded and hurried to fulfill the task, she intrusted him with. She quickly turned around, before he would notice her making fun of him.

The door opened with a squeaking sound and she once again turned around to face Shuuzou, who just made his way into the kitchen.  
Simply waving her hand, she motioned to him to sit down at the almost set table.

A tense atmosphere surrounded the three, neither of them trying to start a conversation, neither of them looking at each other. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts, preparing themselves for the conversation, that was going to follow.

Without any word they silently started eating their dinner.  
Horai placed on her left side, while Shuuzou sat across from her.

Halfway through the meal, she sensed Shuuzou's inquiring gaze on her. It was strange for him to be so impatient - much to his own regrets -, but he couldn't stand the atmosphere any longer. And luckily for him, she lifted her face and looked him straight in the eyes.

As soon as Horai noticed the eye-contact the two teenagers made, he tried to get the brunette's attention to encourage her to start her explanations.

The first one to break the eye-contact... was Kayley. Looking Horai's way instead, she waited for his reaction. Closing his eyes, he simply nodded to reassure the girl. Said one took a deep breath and looked into Shuuzou's awaiting eyes. Laying down the cutlery she was holding, she started, her voice barely audible, "I...I'm.. very.. s-sorry, Shuuzou."  
Noticing that her voice was trembling, she cleared her throat and continued, choosing her words with care, "It wasn't easy for me to hide the truth - especially, to keep it secret from you. But first of all I want to..uh.. tell you about my relationship with Horai. I mean, Itsuki."

Shuuzou raised one brow by the mention of the first name of his coach, looking back and forth between the two.

"Please, don't judge our relationship due to the fact that I'm calling him by his first name. Actually, well... my reason to call him by his given name is..."

She lowered her head, looking down on her plate, considering how to formulate her sentence without raising any suspicions in Shuuzou, she simply told him the truth, "He is," and looked up again, before she finished, "my uncle. My mother's older brother by 18 months."

Shuuzou nodded in understanding, allowing her to continue.

"Well, I look like a normal japanese girl, apart from the fact that my hair is naturally brown coloured, but actually I was born in Spain. My parents were both born in Japan, though. My grandmother - maternal - was a pure española and at the request of my mother, my parents moved to Spain. Itsuki made the same decision and they lived next to each other.  
Just shortly thereafter, my brother and I were born. Like Itsuki and my mother, he's 18 months older than me. But Itsuki still lived alone and my brother and I often visited him. He anyway decided to go back to Japan. I turned four years old shortly before it, and moved together with him. Itsuki is taking care of me ever since."

Reflecting told memories, thinking about what she just told him, he closed his eyes, letting them wait for an answer.  
He stood up, his eyes still closed. Neither Kayley nor Itsuki knew, what he was going to do, but altogether she thought he would simply go home now, not knowing, if he should trust her words, because she hurt his feelings with her distrust.

But contrary to their expectations he walked around the table and pulled the brunette up and she stumbled against his chest.  
Her eyes widened, deeply touched by his reaction. Nuzzling into his chest, she smiled honestly and he pulled her even closer.

"It seems," Shuuzou started and looked at Itsuki, "that I misunderstood the way you're behaving towards each other. I'm sorry, Coach Horai... and I'm sorry... Kayley."

A smile forming on her lips, she looked up at him.

Delighted by their reactions, Itsuki suggested, "Why don't we finish our food and watch some TV together afterwards? It's already pretty late, but since tomorrow's Saturday, I don't think this will be much of a problem."

Both teenagers smiled in agreement and sat down again to finish their food.

.

He didn't want to admit it though, but there were some questions still bothering Shuuzou. But since it was a hard time for her, telling him the truth about her relationship with Itsuki, he just kept them for himself, planning to ask her about them sometime.  
Nevertheless, he still wanted to know one thing, 'Why is she living with him and not with her parents and her brother?'

* * *

**Here you are, guys!**

**Hope you enjoy this one as well**

**And sorry for keeping her secret secret :3**

.

**The next chapter will most likely continue where the Prologue ended and so the main story will begin~ :3**


	6. 5th Qter - Sweet and depressing memories

**Finally~**

**Hope you enjoyed the last few chapters, but I think I should start with the main story now ^^**

**Just wanted to tell you some things about her past with Shuuzou, since he is one of my fave's 3**

* * *

She made her way as fast as possible to the café where he wanted to meet her.

It was a sunny day and summer vacation just started.

Actually, she had been looking forward to this time in the year for a long time now, but too many things confused her and she couldn't think about anything else anymore.

She just wanted to forget about them, but found herself again thinking about them on her way to her destination.

Visibly exhausted, she reached the café and was about to fix her clothing, when someone approached next to her, "You're late, but it's not like I expected anything else," the person sneered.

She raised her head to look into his eyes.

"Shuuzou!" She exclaimed happily, as soon as she recognized the boy in front of her eyes as her best friend and beloved brother, jumping right into his arms, pulling him into a deadly embrace.

Both of them were laughing wholeheartedly, while he picked her up, spinning around with her in his arms, while both were enjoying their reunion.

The other guests of the café were already watching the two teenagers, some complaining about their behaviour, some watching them in delight, some dreaming about past days and their first love.

The brunette and the raven-haired seemed like a newly-married couple or at least like an engaged couple, even though they were only teenagers.

Little did the guests know that they didn't share any love attachment. Their feelings for each other were strong, but it was merely love between brother and sister. But even if the observers would know that fact, they would still believe otherwise.

Pretty exhausted from spinning around and already feeling kind of dizzy, he carried her bridal-style to a nearby table, picked up his bag and the jacket that was hanging on the back of the chair he had sat.

"You know, you can set me down now," the brunette giggled, her arms slung around his neck for support.

"But I don't want to," he responded and stuck his tongue out at her, making her laugh even harder.

Shuuzou took her to a fountain and finally put her down, seating her on the edge of the fountain, careful not to accidentally let her fall into the cold water, "Here you go."

He sat down next to her and smiled his usual smile, before he looked up at the cloud-free sky.

"Three years have already passed since we met," he stated, reminiscing about the past.

While Shuuzou had already graduated from Teikou Junior High and would be visiting his second year in High School after summer break, she trained the first string in Teikou for a further year.

And now her time has come, to choose a High School herself.

She had turned sixteen in September last year and graduated just two weeks ago.

"And soon you as well will attend High School. Have you already decided for one?"

She shook her head in denial and stared down at the ground, visibly depressed by the fact.

He sighed and patted her head confidently, knowing what she went through the last past weeks.

All beginnings are difficult - but she managed to gain the respect of Teikou's team, at the age of merely thirteen, within only four weeks. Well, except for Haizaki - but he has never respected anyone though.

After Shuuzou had quit his position as the captain, Haizaki was ejected.

But he had never been that huge of a problem to her, at least as long as she stuck with Shuuzou.

Actually, she was currently facing her greatest problem ever since.

Namely: The Generation of Miracles.

Shuuzou let out a sigh and laid his arm casually around her waist, allowing her to lean against his shoulder. Even though he would never admit it, he was worried about her, fearing that she would retreat into herself again, cutting herself off from the outside world - to put it straight: he could be called her very overprotective brother.

While she was still staring at the ground, as if it was the most interesting thing, he recalled the peaceful moments they, or rather she, shared with the prodigies of Teikou.

The time he recommended Akashi Seijuuro to be the new captain of the first string and she, knowing about his reason to retire, chatting friendly with the new captain, calling him 'Sei-chan' since their first encounter, being the only one to be on good terms with him in an instant. Most players feared him, but she trusted Shuuzou's decision and chummed up with 'Sei-chan'. By the way, it was obvious that Akashi often sought her company and regarded her since she possessed dignity and earned the respect of the whole basketball club including Coach Shirogane without any force.

Every time Murasakibara Atsushi picked the brunette up, asking her, if she would ever grow, while she struggled in his grip, complaining about his rudeness (actually she just hated to be called 'short') and the times she was called 'Shorty-chan' by him, her face twitching in anger. But nevertheless, Murasakibara liked her in his own way, adoring the food she makes and even sharing his precious sweets with her.

And then there were the times, when Midorima Shintarou carried one of his extraordinary lucky-items with him and no one was able to hold back their laughter. And every time, Kayley got angry and doubled, or even tripled, the training of those who made fun of him. Her will to defend him, to vouch for everyone who was harassed, somehow or other, procured her deep respect from him. Furthermore, was he the one to walk her home, when Shuuzou wasn't able to do so or he simply walked together with them, since he had the same way home.

As to Aomine Daiki, he always challenged the brunette to a one-on-one after practice and even though he was never able to beat her, he enjoyed the time wholeheartedly and acknowledged her basketball skills as well as her personality, because she was the only one able to shut even Akashi down, while no one else even dared to disobey his orders. Aomine was in some ways just like Kayley. Serious if necessary, but still childish. This was most likely the reason why they got along so well.

Furthermore, Kayley shared a strong bond of friendship with Momoi Satsuki. The pink-haired manager was her best (girl) friend, since there were still some subjects she couldn't talk to Shuuzou about. Even though he tried to be interested in everything every time, Kayley knew that he wasn't interested at all or wasn't even listening. The two girls often met after school or stayed overnight at each others houses. And she was the only person, beside Shuuzou, she told about her relationship with Itsuki. In their last year in Teikou she took Shuuzou's place on Kayley's side, since he had already graduated.

But she most likely enjoyed the time, when Kuroko Tetsuya approached, the most. Since no one was able to see or rather recognize him due to his low presence, he (unintentionally) scared everyone by showing up out of nowhere. But for whatever reason, Kayley was able to see him and almost died from laughter every time Kuroko scared Shuuzou. And he would smile at her, every time she treated his wounds, when someone accidentally ran into him or hit him during a practice match, because they didn't see him, standing next to them. He appreciated her gentleness and kindness.

And last but not least there was Kise Ryouta, the flashy model and handsome athlete, who started basketball in his second year in Junior High and was already called one of the Generation of Miracles. Since the instant he saw the girl, he couldn't get enough of her. Even though she could be 'scary' - as he said - some times, she was actually his shield, whenever anyone wanted to harm him, because no one dared to inflict damage on her. They often used to visit the arcade together or simply went to the mall for shopping. She never liked the bunch of fangirls, who were following his every steps, but it wasn't out of envy, but rather because it would always be noisy, having them around. Amongst other things he liked her because of this very reason. She never screamed or even fainted, because he waved at her and treated him as a friend. He was most likely the one closest to her, since they shared many hobbies and he reminded her of Itsuki.

All in all, she got along well with everyone of the Generation of Miracles including Satsuki and Kuroko. And it was obvious that Kayley enjoyed every moment with them.

But even though she shared so much memories with them and was close with everyone, she got hurt by them as well.

And now they were at odds with each other - even agreeing to an oath to fight against each other to see who of them would be the strongest.

Aomine started to skip practice and thought that the only one who can beat him is he himself.

Due to Aomine skipping practice, Murasakibara questioned Akashi, why he had to attend practice, since Aomine is skipping as well.

Akashi and he got into an argument and played one-on-one against each other and Akashi's true self arose, saying he is absolute and that he will always win, because he is always right.

Even Kise and Midorima got bored and lost their passion for basketball.

The only one remaining was Kuroko, who tried his hardest to understand their behaviour, but failed every time and started to hate basketball, the sport he loved so much.

Since everyone around them gave up on winning against them, they started to see each other as enemies instead of teammates.

And moreover Kuroko just vanished after Teikou had won the Nationals for the third time in a row.

Shuuzou shook his head, suppressing further depressing thoughts as well as the wish to smack every one of this so called 'Generation of Miracles' in the head and gazed at his friend instead, who had her eyes closed, listening to the calming rhythm of his heartbeat.

He knew that the smile she was wearing ever since these changes of her friends was forced. And there wasn't anything else he wanted more, than seeing her smile her honest and wholehearted smile again.

But nevertheless, she wasn't able - much to his, her uncles and her own dismay - to smile for him.

Since their graduation Kayley haven't heard from any of her 'friends'. She talked to Satsuki a few times, who told her that she would attend Touou Academy together with Aomine, since she thinks that she has to take care of him.

Even though Kayley agreed with her, she felt crestfallen on the inside. Everyone had already made a decision. And she was left behind.

"Say," Shuuzou suddenly raised his voice, gaining her attention, tearing her out of her doze, "Would you like to go to the library? We could go to the cinema afterwards, eat a snack at our usual café and watch the sunset in the evening, don't you think?"

Her face lit up, thanking him for his efforts and agreeing to his plans.

'Probably it would be the best to have some fun, instead of showing a face marked by sorrow. And he even offered to accompany me to the library,' she thought, giggling at the thought of Shuuzou visiting a library, the place he probably hated the most.

He smiled and stated, "I like that expression better."

'And I like to see your expression, as soon as you set one step into the library.'

.

The two of them went, like promised, to the library and she started making fun of her friend, because he voluntarily agreed to accompany her and was following her through the building, giving the bookshelves death-glares.

He caught her laughing at him and pouted childishly, while the girl in front of him mimicked his every movements.

As soon as he gave up, she flashed him an honest smile, making him smile in return.

"You know," she started, "they aren't your enemies, Shuuzou. Just because you don't like to read, doesn't mean that you have to stab the books with invisible daggers."

They had a lot of fun together, simply enjoying each others company.

.

"Soo, which movie would you like to watch?" Shuuzou asked the brunette, waiting for her choice.

"Everything is fine," she plainly answered.

They ended up watching a cliché love story and - believe it or not - in the end Shuuzou was the one to shed tears and she had to support him to leave the cinema.

Since he was in a doze, she lead him to a nearby park and they sat down on a bench, the sun already setting.

She looked up into the sky, seeing the last rays of the sun tinting the horizon pinkish, while the sun slowly disappeared into the horizon. When she looked back at Shuuzou, she saw that he was watching her and smiled at him, "Thank you for everything today, Shuuzou."

He stroke her hair with his hand.

"You're welcome!"

"But please, don't force yourself into a library again. Unless, you want to end your visit in a massacre."

Laughing at her comment, he started to poke her side, making her squeal as a result and provoking her to tickle him, which caused him to fall off the bench, pulling her with him.

They fell to the ground, she laying on top of him, still laughing.

Grabbing her by her waist, he lifted themselves up, allowing her to sit in his lap.

The last rays of the sun vanished and the sky darkened, stars already sparkling in the nightsky.

"My mother told me once," Kayley started, "that every star has his own place in the firmament. Everyone of them is important. And some day, we will be just like them. Free... but we'll always have a place to return to."

Her memories made him melancholic and he put his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

"I want to be free, Shuuzou... Just like the stars," she stated, dreamily looking up at the admirable nightsky, stretching her arm out, reaching for the stars.

"I'm sure you will be some day," he whispered, recognizing that the girl in his arms was already drifting off into sleep.

Smiling at her drowsy figure, he stood up carefully and carried her home, where itsuki was already awaiting them.

Itsuki gave a light chuckle, as soon as he saw the raven-haired boy, carrying his niece in his arms. Carefully opening the door, in order not to wake her up, he let Shuuzou inside, who quickly carried the girl to her room.

Laying her carefully down on her bed, he took off her shoes and covered her with the blanket. After kissing her forehead softly, he turned around to leave, but was detained by her, grabbing his wrist.

"Don't go..," she whispered somnolent, removing the blanket, moving over to make space for him.

He didn't hesitate and laid down next to her, embracing her tightly and drifting off into sleep as well.

.

Puzzled that Shuuzou hasn't come back already, Itsuki made his way upstairs and entered her room through the open door, seeing the two teenagers snuggled together, already asleep.

He smiled at them and quietly approached them, covering the two sleeping figures with the blanket, switched off the lights and left the room, allowing them to sleep peacefully.

'Shuuzou really seems to have taken 'his' place..,' Itsuki thought, while he made his way back downstairs to switch off all the lights, before he went to bed as well.

* * *

**Hey there ^^**

**Hope you like this one as well ;)**

**And no need to worry. The GoM will appear in the next chapter as well =)**

**Causing Kayley some trouble ;)**


	7. 6th Quarter - GoM's Appearance I

"You look beautiful in that dress, Kayley," he complimented, when he approached next to the brunette, who was looking into the mirror, examining her outfit with a sad expression.  
She wore a plain anthracite-coloured backless halterneck dress, which reached to her upper thigh and black pumps with wedge heel. Her hair was combed down and she fixed her bangs with a clip, a black rose attached to it.

Not wanting to put on any make-up, it was clearly visible that her eyes were red and swollen, proof that she had been crying. Her face looked very pale.

Still looking into the mirror, she took his hand, entangling her fingers with his, and tried to make eye contact with him by looking at his reflection.

Her brown eyes met his, he smiled at her and squeezed her hand in sympathy.

"You okay?" He asked in a whisper.

Slightly nodding, she turned around and looked directly into his grey-coloured eyes. He let go of her hand, which irritated her, and searched for something inside the pocket of his black jacket.

Motioning her to close her eyes, he turned her around, making her face the mirror again. She did as she was told to and felt his warm hands around her neck as well as something cool.  
He moved his hands from her neck to her waist and hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.

Opening her eyes, she lead her hand to her collarbone and touched the pendant with her fingers, examining the necklace he had put around her neck.  
It were the outlines of a small, delicate flower made out of silver, holding a clear jewel inside.

Due to her movement, he loosened his grip on her waist and she turned around, facing him, wearing a confused expression.

She wanted to speak up, to oppose, but he placed one of his fingers gently on her lips to stop her.

"It's fine. Keep it," he whispered and smiled at her.

Smiling at him, she stood on tiptoe and gently placed a kiss on his cheek, making him blush badly.

"Let's go, Shuuzou," she said confidently.

.

"What kinds of flowers would you like for the bouquet?" the florist asked her, wearing a friendly smile on his lips.

"Just lilies, please, in every different colour you have. He really likes nature's enchanting play of colours," she answered, smiling at him in response.

He nodded and started to work on the bouquet the girl asked for.

Searching for her companion, she turned around, roaming around the area of the florist, just to find the raven-haired staring at a white hibiscus in his hand. He was lost in thoughts, fascinated by the delicate flower, completely forgotten everything else around him.

She approached him and gently touch his shoulder, gaining his attention, making him look at her. Raising one eyebrow instead of asking directly, he wanted to know what she had to say. But she had already taken the flower out of his hands, making her way back to the counter to pay.

Shuuzou furrowed his brows in confusion, but nevertheless followed her.

"You have a good taste, miss," the florist said, as soon as he saw the flower she was holding in her hand, "The hibiscus expresses tender beauty. It suits you very well. Please, consider it a present."  
Finished, he hold out the ordered bouquet for her.

She paid for the bouquet of lilies and left the florist with Shuuzou, heading towards their actual destination, the cemetery.

.

"Long time no see," she whispered, standing in front of a grave, forcing a smile, "Another year has passed already... It's your anniversary of death again."  
Kneeling down, she carefully placed the bouquet of lilies on the grave, her hand shaking slightly.

Sitting in front of the grave, she wasn't able to control her emotions anymore, and she burst into tears, allowing them to flow freely.

"Kayley..," Shuuzou whispered, sitting down next to her, pulling her into an embrace, stroking her back in comfort.  
She stiffened due to his touch, but relaxed shortly after, relishing his comfort and closeness.

Nevertheless, she gently pushed him away, avoiding his gaze by looking down on the ground.

"C-Could you..," she stammered in a whisper, but loud enough for him to hear, "..please l-leave m-e alo-one for a-a moment?"

Understanding that she didn't intend to get rid of him, but simply wanted to be alone for some time, he nodded in acceptance and was about to get up, when she tugged his sleeve, making him stop in his movements.

Looking directly into his eyes, she held out the hibiscus, that was given to her by the florist, to him, "Since you are already here, why don't you go and visit your sister?"

He looked back and forth between her and the flower.  
"This is her favourite, isn't it?"

'So that was her purpose... She wanted to buy it for me, since she saw me staring at it..,' he thought, 'Seems like she really does know me too well.'

Taking the flower, he stood up, smiled a last time at her, turned around and walked away, not looking back again.

Relieved that he agreed to her plea without offering any resistance, she again focused her attention on the grave or rather the inscription on the gravestone.

_** ~ Mikage Sayer ~  
14th of March 1996  
21st of March 2011**_

But what caught her attention the most, was the sentence engraved below.

**_ ~ Not our abilities show the person we are deep inside our hearts. It is our choices. ~_**

Lost in her own world, thinking about this sentence, this last few words of his, she didn't notice the person, slowly approaching her.

"Seems like I was right all along," sneered an intimidating voice, the shadow of the person casted at her.

Recognizing the voice, her eyes widened immediately in surprise - and much more in fear. Not sure if she wasn't able to move, because she hadn't wanted to or because his gaze prevented her from moving, she remained in her spot, her body starting to shake, her knees getting weak and her legs loosing all of their strength.

It wasn't the first time for her to sit in front of his grave, but it was still not easy for her to fight back the tears.  
But if there were situations, she hated more than her yearly visits to the cemetery, it were encounters with him, when she was emotional unstable.

"Akashi..," she whispered, desperately clutching to the hem of her dress, avoiding his gaze.

"Why don't you call me Sei-chan instead, like you used to do," he growled, displeased by hearing her say his last name.

Enraged that she was neither answering nor moving, he forcefully grabbed her arm and pulled her up, forcing her to look at him - into his heterochromatic eyes.  
Wearing a triumphant smirk, he pulled her even closer, the gap between them shrinking bit by bit.

"So? Do I assume rightly that this was the person you replaced with Nijimura? Your beloved brother?" His voice was full of disgust and the words he spoke struck her inwardly.

Struggling to free herself, she gritted her teeth, but it was no use. Akashi just increased the force with which he hold her, causing her to wince in pain.  
Boldly, she faced him and tried to stare at him in hatred, but the tears forming in her eyes betrayed her.

"You certainly want to know, why I am here right now. But I can see in your eyes that there is one thing you would like to know much rather - for example, how do I know about your brother?"

Her widened eyes were enough of an answer for him to continue.

"The answer is simple. I am absolute. Raised by your uncle, Horai Itsuki, together with your older brother, Sayer Mikage... Weren't we friends back then in Teikou? But still you refused to talk about your past. Though, it doesn't change the fact that I know everything already."

Raging in anger, she spit, "It wasn't compulsory for me to tell you something I never wanted you to know about."

Smirking, slightly surprised, he lifted his brows, "Indeed, it wasn't. But still, there's no doubt that you told Nijimura everything. Does he know, by chance, that he is just a replacement?"

"There is no way that I would see him as a replacement!" She shouted, finally able to escape his grip, slapping his hands away.

"Heh, you're really something. Still objecting to my words and resisting my actions. But you should know, the only ones who are allowed to look me in the eye as I speak are those that serve me. No one that opposes me is allowed to look down on me. Know your place. And as a punishment for your disobedience," he paused, coming near her again, catching the falling (due to her weak knees) girl by her arm and continued as soon as their faces were inches apart from each other, "You will come with me, to Rakuzan."

His other hand made it's way up to her neck, but she realized too late that he was holding something in his hand.  
As soon as the cold, yet sharp object touched her bare skin, she flinched, which caused a scrap on her neck. To avoid greater damage, she allowed him to close the gap again.

"Aren't we submissive now?" He grinned maliciously, running the point of the scissor along her throat, "My orders are absolute, but I will at least give you the chance to follow me willingly. Since you've always supported me and convinced Nijimura of my... plans."

Removing the scissor from her throat, he let go of her arm, what caused her to fall on her knees.  
He put the scissor back into his pocket and turned around.

"Inform me immediately, when you have made your decision. And don't worry. I won't spill any information about your past. Until we meet again, Kayley."

Breathing heavily, her eyes were filled with tears and she was scared to death by him. By his 'punishment' - and by the fact that he knew about her past.

_"In this world, winning is everything, winners are validated and losers are denied. Until now, I've never lost at anything, and I won't in the future. Since I always win, I'm always right. If you oppose me... I'll kill you, no matter who you are."_

_"The only ones who are allowed to look me in the eye as I speak are those that serve me. No one that opposes me is allowed to look down on me. Know your place."_

_"I am absolute. I can see the entirety of the future. It is but a simply matter to change it."_

_"Winning is everything. The victors write history. The losers are wiped from it."_

_"And my orders are absolute."_

Haunted by those horrible memories, her tears were flowing merciless and she started sobbing, a weak scream escaping her throat.

"Kayley!" Nijimura called out to her, after he had decided to return to her, as soon as he saw her huddled figure and a specific red-head heading for the gate, leaving the cemetery.

He quickly kneeled down next to her, examining her trembling figure. Her hands clasping her head, her eyes open wide in despair - in fear.

Unsure if she had already noticed his appearance, he gently touched her shoulder, causing her to turn around quickly, slapping his outstretched hand away.

Panicking, she tried to get on her feet, stumbling a few times, distancing herself from him.

Dejected by her actions, he nevertheless didn't intend to let her go - especially since she was emotional unstable and he had never seen her so... devastated.

But as soon as he stood up, coming closer to her, she shook her head forcefully, trying to keep him away from her, stretching her hands out in fear.

Slowly trying to close the gap, he remained calm and hoped that his calm attitude would calm her down, but unfortunately it didn't.

_"Does he know, by chance, that he is just a replacement?"_

With Akashi's words still pursuing her in her mind, she ran away instead, not being aware of her surroundings and not even paying attention to the direction she was heading.

"KAYLEY!"

She realized too late that she stood already in the middle of a street with heavy traffic, the cars rushing past her.

Flustered, she looked around in distress and on account of this she didn't spot the car, heading towards her, going to knock her over in an instant.

Since it was too late for her to move, when she finally realized the car, she stood there, frozen on the spot, squinting her eyes shut in anticipation of the impact.  
But the only one she felt was the impact, when she hit the ground, due to someone pushing her out of the way.

Her head was spinning and a drowsy feeling overcame her, making it impossible to get up.

'What's going on?' She thought, after she had seen the mass of people surrounding her and gathering around a particular spot, a short distance away from where she was laying.

Different voices were screaming, shouting at each other, but she wasn't able to speak up, to ask for help. She perceived the noises only mutedly.

"SOMEONE, CALL AN AMBULANCE!"

"HE'S LOOSING TOO MUCH BLOOD!"

"WHAT ABOUT THE GIRL?!"

The last sparks of strength leaving her body, everything in front of her eyes turning pitch-black, until she finally lost consciousness.

The last thing she heard was the siren of the ambulance, arriving at the place of the accident.

.

She woke up, just to find herself in an unknown room, but due to the pungent smell of disinfection she knew that she was in hospital.

White walls, white ceiling and even covered in white sheets.

Forcing her heavy body to move, she slung her legs out of the bed, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the window. This is when she saw the needle for an infusion sticking in her palm.

'What happened?'

Trying to regain her memories, she closed her eyes and focused on the last moments she could remember.

'We went to the cemetery together... and Akashi appeared, blackmailing me with information about my past to make me follow him to Rakuzan... and finally Shuuzou came back... Shuuzou...'

It took some time, but when she at last remembered, it hit her like a bolt of lightning. Her fear and anxiety for him overtaking her sanity, she got up in a hurry, accidentally causing the needle to be pulled out and making the infusion stand fall to the ground.

She turned around, desperately to find something - or rather someone - familiar and calmed down a little, when she recognized the person in the bedside beside hers.

Ignoring the mass she made, she headed straight towards him, sitting down on the edge of his bedside, examining his fragile figure sleeping peacefully.

Tears of joy, when she realized he was breathing steadily, but yet guilt were streaming down her cheeks and she started caressing his cheek, stroking his raven-coloured, soft hair.

It was only then that she noticed how pale his face was and that he had large bags under his eyes, since he was short of sleep. There were needles for infusions attached to his right arm and she could see - since he wasn't covered in blankets - that his bare chest was covered in bruises and scraps, his lower abdomen bandaged and the area around his ribs had a dark shade of blue, evidence that some of them might be broken.

Careful not to hurt him, she slid her fingers over his skin, tracing the outlines of his bruises and finally stopping at his chest, her hand resting to feel his steady heartbeat.

'He is so defenseless right now... And this is all my fault...'

She couldn't stop her tears from flowing and buried her face in her hands.

The responsible nurse must have heard either the commotion she caused or her sobbing, because she soon entered the room, visibly upset to see her sitting at his bedside, the infusion spilled on the floor.

But she was cut off, before she could preach a sermon, by the doctor.

"I'll take care of this," he said with his deep male voice, "You may go now."

The nurse nodded, wearing an angered expression, cursing the girl in her thoughts, and exited the room, closing the door behind her.

"His medical values are just fine. He is sleeping at the moment. You two were just brought here yesterday. He'll most likely awake in the evening."

Upon the voice, Kayley stood up and turned around to face the doctor, rubbing her eyes forcefully to dry the tears. In front of her stood a man about Itsuki's age, very tall, with green hair and a pair of glasses on his nose.

"Two of his ribs are cracked, but, on the whole, he was pretty lucky. He didn't receive lasting damage and will soon be able to leave the hospital. But for now, he has to recover and you should take a rest yourself, Kayley-chan."

'Kayley-chan?'

"M-Midorima-san..?" She said slightly irritated.

Said one smiled at her and nodded.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" He said, while he got a chair and placed it beside Shuuzou's bed, "I assume, you don't intend to leave his side. You can stay with him until visiting hours are over, since you just lost consciousness due to the shock and haven't got greater damage. Your uncle will pick you up."

Gratefully taking the seat, she nodded in agreement.

"Ah, talking about him, he visited you yesterday and brought some clothes. You can take a shower now, if you want to."

"Thank you very much, Midorima-san," she replied, smiling back at him.

He simply nodded and left the room, leaving her alone with Shuuzou.

* * *

**Uwaaaaah . to think I could do this to Shuuzou... please forgive m~e ;(**

**sorry if Akashi is too OOC, though...**

**Anyway, sorry for the late update and hope you enjoy it ^^**

**The rest of the GoM will appear at the latest in two chapters~**

**And thanks to Dumbledore for his wise words :3**

.

**Read and Review, please!**

**~ KayleySayer**

**Updated: May 02, 2014 - Friday**


	8. 7th Quarter - GoM's Appearance II

Even though she tried to stay awake, until Shuuzou would wake up, she soon fell asleep, her head resting on her arms on Shuuzou's bedside, holding his hand in hers protectively.

Therefore she didn't notice the door to their room being opened and someone entering it, heading straight toward the two teenagers, staring at the brunette, he knew only too well.

Approaching her, he kneeled down, so he was on same height with her sleeping figure. She was able to see her innocent face clearly, her closed eyes and her pale, otherwise flawless skin.

'Her hair has grown,' he though, while he gently stroked her brown hair, playing with the strands of it, winding them around his fingers, when he noticed the thin scrap on her neck.

"Didn't you know, that it's bad manners to watch someone, while they are sleeping?" Someone said with a hoarse voice, stopping him in his movements.

The visitor, caugh red-handed, looked away and saw that the raven-haired boy was slowly moving, carefully, because his wounds were hurting badly and he didn't want to wake up the girl due to his sudden movements. Sitting up in the bed, while grimacing with pain, he looked at the brunette, still sleeping peacefully, what raised him a smile.

But he soon averted his gaze from her and looked at the visitor, who wore an unemotional expression.

"Still wearing the usual pokerface, huh?" Shuuzou mumbled to himself, a breathy laugh escaping his throat.

Ignoring his comment, the visitor let go of her hair and pushed up his glasses, still not showing any emotions.

"Visiting hours are almost over. She will be picked up soon by her uncle," he stated, standing up, "Make sure that she will be awake and ready to leave by then."

He headed for the door, not even glancing back, but stopped, when Shuuzou raised his voice again, slightly agitated, "That's all? You don't even want to say 'hello' to her?"

"There's no need for me to do so. Due to the scrap on her neck, I can tell that she had already had an encounter with Akashi. And I doubt that even she will disobey the current person he is."

"That's what I fear the most," Shuuzou answered sighing, patting her head, "And I have to admit that I would like her to visit a high school no one of you will attend, but if she really has to, I think it would be best for her to stay by your side, since you are the most reliable one, Midorima."

"I'd like her to, but it is her decision after all. Her heart will decide, what would be best for her. If Akashi hasn't decided it in her place already."

By the thought of Akashi, Shuuzou tch'ed, but just let it be, trying to get as much information from him as possible, "And what about the oath you made? Wouldn't it be only beneficial for you to have her around?"

Midorima, who was facing the door, turned around in surprise - or rather shock, "You know about it?"

"Yes, you shouldn't underestimate me, and if I would be able to stand up, I would gladly smack you over the head for this, right now," Shuuzou spat at him, but continued in his usual calm voice, "It is preposterous, yet understandable - but is it worth for you to live with the knowledge that you've hurt her deeply?"

"It's not like I wanted her to be involved in this," he answered truthfully, yet not feeling guilt or sympathy, "But being the person i am, I will keep my word, nevertheless, nanodayo."

Being everything left he wanted to say, he headed for the door and left the room.

"You can open your eyes now, he is gone," Shuuzou said, as soon as Midorima closed the door quietly behind him.

Squeezing his hand, which she hold the whole time, she sat up, her bangs covering her face, making it impossible for him to see her eyes, but yet he could tell, that tears were streaming down her face, even though she was neither trembling nor sobbing.

He reached out his hand, lifting her chin, to give him a better look at her face, just to see her eyes closed, while tears were flowing from them like waves. Stroking her cheek, thereby wiping the tears away with his thumb, he caressed it to calm her down. His hand made it's way to her neck, getting her hair out of the way and he traced the scarp, Akashi caused, with his fingers.

"You won't obey him, will you?" Shuuzou whispered, looking at her entreatingly, his hand caressing her cheek and neck. Even though she was always brave enough to still disobey his orders and had the courage to object him, Midorima's words stoked the fear that she would follow him.

It took some time, but she finally shook her head, and he let out a sigh in relief.

"Midorima was right, when he said, that I will decide with my heart. I have to admit that I was scared, when Akashi had talked to me and I'm scared of his second self, if you want to call it that way. But I hope,... no, I know that somewhere deep inside his shell, he is still 'Sei-chan'. I don't think that it is his fault, that he is the person he is now. And I'm sure, there is a way for him to get back to the person he was - or rather actually is."

"You really are a worrywart, always trying to take care of and protect everyone," he teased, playfully ruffling her hair, making her giggle, "I'm sure you can bring them back to their senses, otherwise I will gladly smack them, since they are fooling around with basketball, not caring if they hurt someone doing so."

Encouraged by his words, knowing that he would keep his word with good grace, she declared, "I definitely will!"

She threw her fist in the air, to emphasize her words.

Laughing at her childish behaviour, he grabbed her other hand, resting in her lap, to assert, that he will help her as far as possible.

But suddenly his expression grew sad.  
"I know, that I won't be around for some time, since we're moving to America due to the current state of my dad and the further process of his medical treatment, but make sure to tell me right away, if anything should happen. I'll try to support you as far as possible."

"Of course I will, but make sure to keep me informed as well," she assured him.

Satisfied with her answer, he moved, making some space for her on the bedside, and motioning her to sit next to him. Taking the remote control for the bed, she made the bed-head rise, to make it more comfortable for him, before she sat down on the bedside, carefully drawing nearer to him, trying not to hurt him.

Placing his arm around her waist, he pulled her closer, making her snugly rest her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she whispered, blandly rubbing her head against his chest.

Looking at the brunette in his arms, who followed his wishes without a word of protest, he wasn't able to hold back the question anymore, he wanted to ask so badly.

"Kayley..."

"Hm?"

"Why did you run away from me yesterday?"

_"Does he know, by chance, that he is just a replacement?"_

Turning around to face him, she intensely stared into his grey-coloured eyes. She knew, she had to and she wanted to tell him.

"Have you... ever felt like you were treated as a replacement for my brother by me?"

"A replacement?" He repeated in confusion, not sure what she wanted to reach with the question, but he had already known at that moment, why she would ask all of a sudden.

She nodded and continued, "Akashi accused me that... I would only see a replacement in you... Not value you for the person you are, but for the person my brother used to be."

Embracing her tightly, ignoring the hurting wounds and bruises, he tried to convince her of the opposite, "That isn't true at all!"

"Shuuzou, your wounds..," she wanted to protest to his movements, but he hold her only tighter instead.

"I admit, that I have seen my sister in you, when I first saw you. Back then on the rooftop, when I asked you to teach us your basketball, I really thought of you as a replacement for my sister, since I've seen her crying in your tears. You remembered me of her, and you still do, but it is different now."

Loosing his embrace in order to look into her eyes, and to ease the pain, he continued, "You are not the sister I've lost, but the sister I have chosen as one. Despite to all the similarities between you and her, you two still differ. And I love you for the person you are, not for the person my sister was. You haven't replaced her, you have simply taken her role. And I know that you think the same, don't you?"

Smiling slightly, she nodded, speechless with joy.

"It's not like I have replaced him," he added, pointing at her heart with his finger, "You will always remember him, for the person he used to be, and no one can replace this person. And I neither have replaced him. I simply play the same role in your life now, don't you think?"

Moving forward, she kissed his cheek in gratitude, making him blush again.

She giggled slightly, teasing, "You're still not used to it, Shuuzou-nii~?"

"Imouto-chan~," he replied, playing along, fooling around with her, reliefed that the atmosphere wasn't that gloomy anymore.

"Ne, nii-tan," she interrupted their teasing, "Midorima knows about Itsuki-ji-san, doesn't he?"

"It seems so," he sighed, "But they would have known anyway, some day."

"It can't be helped. And Bakashi spies on me," she whined, pouting childishly.

Shuuzou burst into laughter, due to her behaviour, even though he knew, that she was just trying to brighten up the atmosphere.

"Bakashi? Be careful with this... apposite expression, otherwise you will be dead by the next time you use it."

They continued chatting and fooling around, until there was a knock on the door, which was immediately opened afterwards.

Winking at them, wearing his usual smile, their visitor spoke up, after he had closed the door, "Seems like the two of you are fine, at least practically."

"Papa!" Kayley exclaimed, hurriedly jumping into his arms.

"How many times do I have to repeat, that I'm not your 'papa'?" He asked, laughing, squeezing the girl in his arms.

Sticking her tongue out at him, she let go of him, skipping back to Shuuzou's bedside, sitting on the edge of it.

Relieved that she was doing well and enjoying herself, he came closer to the two teenagers, sitting down on the chair, Kayley used a while ago.

"And what about you, Nijimura-kun?"

"I've already told you many times, Shuuzou is just fine," asked one answered in annoyance, since Itsuki wasn't his Coach anymore and he was often visiting Kayley and him, he didn't want him to call him by his last name, "But I'm actually fine. The pain is bearable."

"Midorima-san said that his medical values are okay, but two of his ribs are cracked. Apart from that nothing worldshaking. Some bruises and a wound on his lower abdomen."

"Midorima? Shintarou's father?"

She nodded.

"That's good to hear," Itsuki said, leaning backwards in the chair, "I'm glad that you two are doing well, but would you mind, telling me what had happened?"

Meaningfully, Shuuzou looked at the brunette next to him, took her hand and squeezed it slightly, encouraging her to explain the events to her uncle - and to him.

"Well," she started, not knowing where to begin. So she just decided to start at the beginning, clearing her throat, and continued, "We went to the cemetery, as planned, since yesterday was... Mika-nii's anniversary of death. I asked Shuuzou to... give me some time alone... and this is when suddenly... Akashi appeared next to me..."

Telling them about the conversation and his so called 'punishment', she ended her talk by showing Itsuki the mark on her neck.

"And when Shuuzou came back to me, I wasn't able to think straight anymore and ended up running away from him, Akashi's words hollering in my mind.  
_Does he know, by chance, that he is just a replacement?  
_I wasn't sure myself anymore, if I treated him like a brother or as a replacement for my brother. Out of my senses, I left him behind, heading towards a street, but I just realized it, as I was already in the middle of it, the cars rushing past me."

Remembering the fear, the despair she felt back then, her body started to tremble slightly.

"And this is when Shuuzou saved me, before a car that was heading towards me, could hit me. I simply lost consciousness. And he was hit by the car instead."

Itsuki looked directly at Shuuzou, but latter avoided his gaze by lowering his head and closing his eyes, thinking Itsuki would scold him for his frivolity.

But he placed his hand on the shoulder of the teenager instead, smiling at him, cherishing his sacrifice, "There is nothing I can give you to repay you for what you did to save her. And I'm eternally grateful for it. It was very brave of you, Shuuzou. Thank you very much."

Touched by Shuuzou's love for Kayley and the risks he would take for her, he started to she small tears, also because of the fact that they had to part ways soon and he probably won't see her smile as often as she shows it now anymore.  
Just to think about it, that she would loose her 'brother' again, made him sad. Since Shuuzou was the first one to see her tears as well as the childish part of her personality, after Mikage had died.

Shuuzou knew what was going through the mind of her uncle at that moment and feelings of guilt and sorrow struck his heart.

"I don't like my papa crying," the brunette whined, hugging Itsuki, who wore a stunned expression on his face, while Shuuzou grinned triumphantly, glad and relieved that she still had Itsuki to rely on.

His grin turned into a smirk, knowing that he would achieve a disapproving look from Itsuki, but he just had to say it, "And there is no need for papa to cry."

As soon as he said that, the brunette couldn't refrain herself from laughing, due to the expression on Itsuki's face.

'It's priceless.'

And soon Itsuki joined in as well, setting the girl in his arms down on the bed.

"But to be serious now," Shuuzou tried to start, still laughing, "I've talked to a friend of mine, Kasamatsu Yukio. He agreed to meet you and would show you around his school, if you want to."

"Kasamatsu Yukio?" She repeated, searching in her memories, since she was sure that she had already heard the name before.

"Isn't he attending Kaijou High? Captain and Point Guard of the basketball team?" Itsuki asked, his curiosity piqued by Shuuzou's sudden offer.

"Yes, he is, he will be in his third year," Shuuzou assured, nodding, "Actually, he is really bad at dealing with girls, but I don't think he would have any problems with this one. And to be honest, he owes me a favour."

"Kasamatsu Yukio..," she mumbled, ignoring Shuuzou who was ruffling her hair playfully.

"Kayley?" The raven-haired asked, but didn't get a response.

Said one was still lost in her thougts.

"Eh!? YUKI-CHAN!?" She suddenly exclaimed, finally remembering the person her friend was talking about.

Taken aback by her sudden outburst, Itsuki and Shuuzou were speechless, their eyes widened and their mouths openend in surprise.

Snapping out of the trance, Shuuzou answered her question, "Yes, but he almost fainted last time, when you called him that, so I think you should stick with Kasamatsu-senpai instead, or at least Yukio."

She covered her mouth with her hands, realizing that she had almost screamed at them, when she finally remembered the person, he was referring to.

"Well, since you already seem to know him," Itsuki interjected, "you should at least give it a try, don't you think?"

"And you could continue with basketball. If you win his support, it would be easy for you to get the job as a manager or even assistant coach," Shuuzou added, "Since I know that you wouldn't be able to quit basketball again."

"There's no way to keep something secret from you, is there?" She sighed.

Nudging her with his elbow, Shuuzou indicated that he was waiting for her answer.

"Okay," she finally agreed, "When and where? You've already planned a meeting, don't you?"

Amazed, he answered, "Tomorrow, 12am at Kaijou High. He will be waiting for you by the front gate."

'Front gate?' She sweatdropped, "It's kinda like a déjà vu, don't you think?"

The two started laughing again, remembering their difficulties at the start, while Itsuki looked back and forth between them, dumbfounded due to his ignorance of the incident.

A knock on the door interrupted them, and they averted their gaze, looking at the visibly annoyed face of a green-haired teenager, who was entering the room.

"Sorry, to interrupt, but visiting hours are over now," he bluntly said, looking down on the floor, avoiding eye contact.

Her strong gaze softened by the awkward situation - at least for him - and she looked at Shuuzou instead, not knowing what to do.

Shuuzou simply nodded, telling her thereby that she had to go now, even though he wanted her to stay with him.

Nodding in response, she quickly packed her things and gave her bag to Itsuki to caryy it for her.

"Lazy kid..," he murmured, but it was loud enough for her to hear and she gave him a glare in return.

Approaching Shuuzou, she sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug, careful not to hurt him, "I'll visit you tomorrow, after I've talked to Yuki-chan," she whispered in his ear and kissed his cheek one last time, "Thank you for everything, Shuuzou... no, nii-tan."

He smiled at her, happy by her choice of name and bid his farewell, "See you tomorrow, little missy."

Winking with one eye, he let go of her, allowing her to leave. He waved at Itsuki and saw the three disappear through the door, leaving him behind.

'Kaijou, huh?' He thought, laid down and closed his eyes to sleep, 'As long as Yukio is by her side, she will be okay, I think.'

"You alright, Lilly?" Itsuki asked, after they had exited the room and had closed the door shut.

Nodding in response, she walked past him, following Midorima to the exit of the building.

The silence between them was too much for her to take. She actually had something, she wanted to ask the green-haired.

"Midorima?" She spoke up, trying to gain his attention, but he ignored her.

"Midorima?"

Still, he simply continued walking, pretending that he haven't heard her.

Feeling the rejection weighing heavily on her small shoulders, her uncle looked at her in pity and wanted to speak out to her, but she stopped in her tracks, looking at floor, her eyes covered by her bangs and her hands formed to fists.

"Shin-chan," she finally managed to say.

This made the tall teenager stop as well, turning around to look at her slightly trembling figure.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you refuse to talk to me?" She opened her eyes, but still wasn't able to look him directly in the eyes.

He sighed, pushing up his glasses, "'Cause it wouldn't have changed anything."

Gritting her teeth in irritation, she raised her head, wearing a confident expression, pointing with her finger at him, declaring, "I will show you that there are things more important than vistory. Winning isn't everything. I can't stand anyone of you looking down on the sport we all used to love. And I won't give up until I can see all of you, enjoying to play basketball, again. I'll bring you back down to earth. Consider this a declaration of war!"

"Do what you have to do," he answered, turning around and starting to walk again.

* * *

**He~ey ^^**

**Meet Midorima and the childish Kayley :3**

** I can't believe this is already the 7th Quarter . even though it might be a bit boring**

**Thanks for the votes and comments~**

**Read &amp; Review, please!**

**Updated: May 04, 2014 - Sunday**


	9. 8th Quarter - GoM's Appearance III

_"I'll show you that there are things more important than victory. Winning isn't everything. I can't stand anyone of you looking down on the sport we all used to love. And I won't give up until I can see all of you enjoying to play basketball, again. I'll bring you back down to earth. Consider this a declaration of war!"_

Her own words lingered in her thoughts, when she made her way to Kaijou, in order to meet with the third-year captain of the basketball team, Kasamatsu Yukio - or Yuki-chan, what she likes to call him.

Skipping, she made her way towards the front gate, humming a cheerful melody, until she spotted a familiar person at the gate, impatiently waiting, his back facing her and it seemed that he didn't notice her appearance by then.

Since she would visit Shuuzou again in the evening, she was in an awful good mood. Quickening her pace, she almost ran towards the male, jumped on his back and tackled him to the ground (accidentally, of course).

"Yuki-chan!" She exclaimed joyfully, lying on top of him, her face inches apart from his.

Taken aback by the sudden attack, he looked at the girl quite flustered, his cheeks turning pink to a healthy glow of red, as soon as he recognized the girl in his arms.

And the way she was smiling at him, wearing her usual, innocent smile, he was neither able to think straight anymore nor was he able to be mad with her.

Trying to regain his posture, he sat up, positioning her in his lap, and failed in trying to hide his reddened cheeks.

"Would you please stop calling me by that nickname," he mumbled, rubbing his aching head in displeasure.

Getting up, she wiped away the dirt on her clothes and reached her hand to him to help him to his feet. She shot him an apologetic smile and apologized, "I'm sorry, Yuki-chan."

"Fine," he admitted defeat, knowing it would be senseless to argue with her, and sighed, "You can stick with the name, but, please, don't scare me like that again."

Running his hand through his short, spiky, black hair, he suggested, "Shall we start?"

Nodding in response, she followed after the captain, letting him show her around.

The sight was stunning, huge buildings rowed together, building an immense complex of buildings. And there were many gyms and sports fields, whereby it was visible that they put much energy in their sports clubs.

The two walked around the school building with Yukio explaining her the most relevant things. At the end, they finally arrived at the gym that was only used for basketball.

"Say," Yukio suddenly spoke up, gaining her attention, "Shuuzou really holds you in high regard, but all I've heard about you are just stories. Even though Shuuzou is a close friend of mine and he took you along sometimes, I've never seen you play and I have never experienced your strategical skills. Do you mind, showing me the gift you have?"

A serious expression crawled up her face, "You want me to play one-on-one against you?"

He shook his head, slightly confusing her. Staring intensely in her dark-brown eyes, he waited for her to react. Nodding, she motioned him to continue.

"You don't have to convince me alone," he ordered and opened the door to the gym, revealing the inside, where the whole team was currently practicing, "I want you to convince the team."

As soon as they took a step inside, everyone stopped in their doings and looked at the newcomers.

"We will now play a practice match, five-on-five," the captain announced, completely ignoring the inquiring looks the team was giving his female company, "The regulars will play against their substitutes. We'll use the full court."

"And who will observe us? Coach isn't around," a blond-haired male asked. He was 5'11" tall and wore black, rectangle-shaped glasses. Telling about his uneasiness, he slowly approached the captain and the brunette.

"She is right in front of you, Nakamura," Yukio stated, "Since I don't want you to play in the match, due to your ankle injury, you are in charge of her."

Walking towards the court, Yukio left a dumbfounded blond behind, but neither he nor anybody else dared to disobey their captain.

"Let's start already!" The captain shouted at his flabbergasted teammates.

"H-hai!"

Everyone started roaming around, preparing for the practice match, trying to make sense of the captain's orders, flashing the female glances in interest and surprise every now and then.

"Nakamura-senpai?" The brunette asked the blond-haired, who was spacing out, while she laid her hand on his upper arm.

Finally noticing the girl in front of his eyes, he averted his gaze to look into her eyes, what caused him to blush slightly.

Smiling brightly at him, she introduced herself, "I am Sayer Kayley, but Kayley is just fine. Yoroshiku!"

Nodding at her, yet still perplexed, he took her offered hand, and returned her friendliness, "Nakamura Shinya."

"No time for introductions," Yukio yelled, annoyed that it took so long to prepare for the practice match and that his blond-haired comrade was still at a loss of words, not knowing how to handle the situation he was drawn into.

Blinking a few times in order to process everything the captain had said, he motioned the brunette to follow him to the bench, that was prepared for coach and substitutes.

With the gazes of the team still averted at her, eyeing her up from head to toe, she sat down on the bench, skillfully ignoring the gawking players, trying to concentrate on the job she was given.

And soon, the match started, everyone now focused on the game, ignoring the unknown visitor.

The first quarter went by without any problems and even without any remarks from Kayley - much to their surprise and to Yukio's nuisance, since he thought that she should have at least noticed the little mistakes they had made or rather the disadvantageous strategies they'd used, because she was highly praised by his old friend.

Slightly disappointed, he ordered to continue with the match, and the second quarter ended, but the girl didn't say anything at all and his rage grew as well as his disappointment.

"What do you think you are doing here?" The captain approached her, asking her slightly furious.

Her eyes closed, she ignored his rude behaviour and collected her thoughts, considering about her next move.

But it only caused Yukio to lose his temper, and while the one with the number 8 tried to calm him down, Nakamura acted with caution to gain the attention of the girl sitting next to him.

"Sayer-san?" He asked, carefully touching her upper arm, just like she did some time ago to gain his attention. But she was mumbling something incomprehensible, too focused to notice his efforts.

"S-Sayer-san?"

Making a twisted face of utter disgust, she spat at him, "I told you to call me Kayley."

Taken aback by her sudden outburst, everyone turned to her, slowly approaching the bench, trying to figure out what caused their captain's rage and their visitor's outburst.

By and by they drew closer, just to be scolded by the brunette in front of their eyes, who finally looked up, staring them into their eyes intensely.

"Number 8," she spoke up, gaining called one's attention, causing him to let go of the enraged captain, "You are the Center of the regulars, but still, your play isn't rough enough to be called a center. Depending on the defensive strategy you would be the only one to play on defense. Furthermore, you have to use your advantage of height more often. Your teammates aren't as tall as you, what makes you the one in charge of the rebounds. Don't try to focus on everything on the court and preferredly concentrate on defense only."

Speechless due to her sudden words, he stared at her, thinking about what the brunette just told him.

She averted her gaze to find her next victim, "Number 5, you get distracted very easily on court, try to stay focused. Concerning your unorthodox three-pointers, they are probably your greatest weapon and your shooting form is unique, but you shouldn't use them every time you have the chance to. Otherwise your opponent would easily find a way to stop them, by chance. You should concentrate more on different techniques to expand your skills and shots. You'll need a large repertoire on shots, if you want to make a good Shooting Guard."

Completely in her element, she continued, conjuring dumbfounded expressions up on everyones' faces.

"And you, number 10, your enthusiasm is extremely irritating and it may distract your opponents, but you also irritate your fellow players by doing so. You have to stay calm. Try to keep a cool head, but a hot heart. Your specialty are rebounds, but try to focuse more on offense, or rather on one-on-one battles against the other team's Power Forward. Your team needs you in offense, but make sure to be less aggressive, otherwise you'd be benched due to fouls immediately."

"Last but not least, you, captain," she started, walking up to him, staying in front of him, looking up at him, right into his steel blue eyes, "As the Point Guard, you are the play-maker. You've already got the courage needed, and you seem to be motivated to win, even though it is just a practice match against members of your own team. Since you are encouraging to every member of the team, it is easy to tell that you can lift their spirits when times on the court should get tough, and it is obvious that you care for everyone and respect everyone. You are a responsible captain, and a capable Point Guard. Still, you have but two main attack patterns. Just like number 5, you should concentrate on your special abilities, not to improve them only, but to find new styles and new patterns, to increase the possibility of success."

Not one player was discouraged by her words and no one tried to stop her, but thought about her observation instead - realizing that what she said was true.

"All in all, this is a strong team and your teamwork is definitely above average. There's no need for you to concentrate on teamwork at the moment, but on each player's individual skills or rather on the skills needed for their position. You can't always rely on the skills your comrades already have. Everyone of you needs to work on the skills needed for their specified position on court."

Receiving questioning looks from the players, she averted her gaze, looking each one of them into the eyes, seeing them all gathered around her.

All seemed to be surprised by her observation skills, and the interest to know more about the brunette in front of their eyes grew with every word she said.

"I think it's time for you," the one who prevented Yukio from attacking their visitor spoke up and looked at his captain, "to introduce your female company to us."

Nodding, the captain looked at her intensely, satisfied by the results he got from her and pleased that she was able to pique his interest as well as the interest of his comrades.

"She is the... little sister of a good friend of mine. Her name is Sayer Kayley, former assistant coach of Horai Itsuki, the coach who trained the first string at Teikou. And she was the coach of Teikou's prodigies, the Generation of Miracles."

"What!? The Genelation of Milacles, you say!?" The over-enthusiastic Power Forward hollered.

"Yes, and since she just graduated from Teikou, she'll attend High School now. I have been asked to show her around Kaijou - or rather forced to," mumbling the last part, she gave him an apologetic look, knowing how persistent Shuuzou could be, when he tries to reach something.

"Does that mean, she will attend Kaijou and become our coach as well? That would be almost dreamlike," the one with the number 5 jersey flattered, "Having a cute girl like her around, I'd always have a girl to play for her sake."

"It would definitely be an enrichment for the team, to have the strategist of the Generation of Miracles as our coach," the Center agreed.

"And what did Coach Takeuchi say? Did he agree to it?" The blond-haired next to her finally joined the conversation of the regulars.

"We haven't talked to him, yet, since I thought it would be easier to convince him, if you had already agreed to it and I have to admit, that I wanted to see her skills for myself, but still, I believe this is not everything she is capable of. After all, she is called a prodigy herself. But I think it will be enough to convince the Coach."

Slowly, they warmed up and started to bombard the brunette with questions, trying to get to know her, feeling delighted by her kind smile and skills.

"Kayley-chan, right?" The tall Center asked, "I'm Kobori Kouji, I'm the Center and play with the number 8."

She nodded, slightly bowing to him, "Yoroshiku!"

"Say, is the lumol tlue that you ale the niece of Horai Itsuki?" The Power Forward lisped.

"So you already know about it, huh?" She stated, lowering her head in sorrow, remembering the crestfallen expressions on the faces of the Generation of Miracles, when they've learned about the truth of her relationship with Itsuki. For them it seemed that she distrusted them.

"Sorry for his straight forward behaviour," the one with the black hair with a green tint apologized, putting his arm around her shoulder, "His name is Hayakawa Mitsuhiro, by the way. But more important, why don't you tell us, if you have a boyfriend? If not, why don't you start, dating me instead?"

"Moriyama Yoshitaka!" Yukio protested, kicking him away from her, "Stop flirting with a girl you just met!"

Amused by their behaviour and the treatment they gave each other, they reminded her of her former team, at least, the way it used to be.  
Her mouth covered with her hand, she started laughing wholeheartedly, her attempt to hide it being completely useless.

Again everyone turned around, looking at the laughing brunette, rejoicing in her heartfelt laughter, already taking her to their hearts.

"Captain!" A voice suddenly called, gaining everyones' attention, "Coach Takeuchi wants to see you ASAP!"

Yukio nodded and turned to the brunette, motioning her to follow him, "The rest of you will continue practice."

The players heaved a big sigh, protesting to his words, since there actually wasn't practice during spring break.

"No complaining!"

.

Knocking at the door to the office, the two of them waited for a reply, a permission to enter the room. And it was soon given by the coach.

The black-haired captain glanced at his company, asking if she was ready, and the brunette nodded in response, motioning him to open the door.

Just to regret it directly afterwards.

The door opened, revealing the coach, lazily sitting at his desk, and talking to him, sitting across from him, a certain blond-haired basketball player.

"Kise..," she mumbled, her eyes widened in surprise, trying to hide behind Yukio, not able to see her former teammate into the eyes.

'Why?'

"Ah, there you are, Kasamatsu," the coach spoke up, not noticing the girl beside him and if he did, he simply ignored her, "I want to introduce you to someone. Kise Ryouta, he is from the Generation of Miracles and his position is Small Forward. But I think you already know him, though."

After the introduction, Kise got up, approaching the captain, but he wasn't interested to talk to him at all. What caught his interest, wasn't the black-haired in front of his eyes, but rather the girl desperately hiding behind him.

"Long time no see, Lillycchi," he bent down, smiling at the brunette, who was still avoiding his gaze, clutching to the arm of the captain in helplessness.

Slightly blushing by her touch, the black-haired nevertheless shoved the girl behind his back with his arm, noticing her discomfort, standing protectively between the blond-haired and the brunette.

Lifting a brow inquiringly, Kise's expression grew angry due to the obvious challenge and Yukio's intervention.

Sparks were flying and neither Yukio nor Kise dared to break the eye contact.

"And who is this?" Coach Takeuchi asked, slightly irritated by the fierce atmosphere.

Not breaking the eye contact, the captain answered, "Her name is Sayer Kayley, former coach of the Generation of Miracles. A friend of mine asked me to introduce her to you."

"Sayer Kayley? Horai Itsuki's niece?" Takeuchi asked, eyeing the girl in interest.

"I want to talk to her in private," he stated, ordering the two boys to leave them alone.

.

"So, you are Lillycchi's guardian?" The blond-haired sneered, smirking.

"Kayley doesn't matter right now," the black-haired shut him down, "To get it straight, you were scouted by Coach Takeuchi?"

The blond-haired nodded, "And I'll be Kaijou's ace in no time, so don't get your hopes up to high concerning Lillycchi. She'll soon see that she can't resist me."

Turning his back at the black-haired, he waved, "I'll be off, see you, Captain."

.

"So," the coach started, "You are the Sayer Kayley, coach and strategist of the Generation of Miracles?"

The girl nodded in response, taking the offered seat, where Kise sat moments ago.

"Then tell me, why are you here today? Feel free to be straight forward."

"I want to apply for the position as the assistant coach of the basketball team."

He lifted one brow in disbelief, "I don't think you'll be capable of that."

Struck by his words, she didn't know what to say.

"You may be called a prodigy, but don't keep your hopes up, since you were able to get the position, because you are the coach's niece. That position is given to a student once in a lifetime. If you want to join the club, you have to accept the position of a manager."

.

"You eavesdropped, didn't you?" She asked, when she exited the office, seeing Yukio standing there, leaned against the wall.

"Well, I didn't need to eavesdrop, since I've already known that he wouldn't acknowledge your skills. He's to proud and self-confident to let anyone help him."

She sighed and looked at the black-haired, smiling at him, "But it's fine with me, as long as I can stay with Yuki-chan!"

Her comment made him blush madly, utterly embarrassed, "It's not that I did it willingly."

"Tsundere~," she stated.

"Just leave me alone already, Shuuzou is waiting for you," the black-haired answered, shoving her towards the exit.

.

She made her way out of the building, towards the front gate. Lost in thoughts, she didn't notice the person waiting there for her, until she walked almost past him.

"Seems like I still get the chance to talk to you," a voice spoke softly, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Sighing, she averted her eyes, staring at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen. Even though, she noticed that the person was coming closer, she stood still in her spot, expecting to be punched in an instant.

But contrary to her expectations, the person hugged her from behind, snuggling his head against her shoulder, "I've missed you so much, Lillycchi," he whispered in her ear.

"Kise..."

"You'll never call me by my first name, will you?" He asked, disappointed that she still called him by his last name, even though everyone else received a nickname from her immediately.

Getting up the nerve to finally face him, she turned around and looked into his golden eyes, "Don't you hate me, right now?"

"Why should I?" He answered, caressing her cheek with his thumb, stroking her hair in comfort, "Just because you decided to keep things secret from us? Doesn't everyone have secrets? I admit that I am crestfallen, since I thought that the two of us were closest out of the Generation of Miracles, but it was your choice and you had your reasons to do so. So why should I hate you?"

Close to tears, she forced herself not to cry in front of him, not to cry anymore, because of anyone of them. She had to stay strong and live up to the declaration she made.

'I will show them, what it means to enjoy something you love!'

Pulling her closer, he embraced her tightly, relishing her closeness.

Pushing him away, she shook her head, "I'm sorry Kise, but I can't accept your kindness. Neither can I accept the decision you and the others made. You're looking down on the sport we all used to love, with your stupid oath. Just let me tell you this, you'll soon be brought back down to earth."

He smirked in response, "Challenge accepted."

* * *

**Hey guys ^^**

**Sorry for the late update... .**

**But finally~~~ Kise 3**

**Guess there is nothing more to say ;)**

**Read &amp; Review? ^^**

**Updated: May 12, 2014 - Monday**


	10. 9th Quarter - GoM's Appearance IV

It was a sunny day and there weren't any clouds in the sky. A soft breeze was caressing her body, while she was skipping along the busy streets of the city centre, on her way to the hospital to visit her beloved brother.

While on her way, she headed straight to the convenience store, to get some of his favourite chocolate and a little bouquet of flowers, to sweeten his stay at the hospital.

She wouldn't admit it though, but she was ridden by guilt, every moment she thought about him and every time she would see his injured body.

While thinking about him, lost in her thoughts again, she accidentally bumped into someone, causing her to fall backwards, but she was caught by muscular arms, before she could collide with the ground.

"Oi! Pay more attention to your surroundings, Baka," a deep male voice spat, pulling her forcefully back to her feet, leaving her behind speechless, while he continued his way in the opposite direction to her destination.

Turning around, surprised to hear the familiar voice, she stared at the person slowly disappearing from her sight. His tall figure, the well-built, muscular body and the short dark-blue hair.

'He hasn't changed at all..,' she thought, seeing him disappear from her view, knowing that he chose to ignore her to avoid an awkward conversation between former teammates.

'Aomine...'

Gritting her teeth, she turned around, not able to look at him anymore. She lowered her face in pain, hearing his words, he repeated ever so much, echoing in her head.

_"The only one who can beat me, is me."_

Shaking her head in order to dispel the thoughts, her hand formed a fist almost on its own. Looking at her slightly trembling fist, she took a deep breath, finally unthinking the much-hated thoughts.

Sensing a glare on her back, she knew instinctively that he had turned around to catch a last glimpse of the brunette, who used to be someone close to him. But instead of turning around again, to face her former teammate, she threw up her fist, signalizing him what she wanted to say with it.

His usual frown turned into a devilish grin and he accepted her obvious challenge with pleasure, before turning around, finally continuing his way.

The sound of disappearing footsteps was heard and she instinctively knew that he had understood that she was willing to fight him with all her might.

A smile formed on her lips, encouraged in her plans and she continued her way towards the convenience store.

.

Finally entering the convenience store, the brunette made a beeline for the shelf with the sweets, picking the chocolate she wanted to buy for her friend.

Humming a melody, she checked the date of expiry like she always does, just to make sure that she won't buy food products that past their shelf lives.

"Oi! Muro-chin, hurry up or I'll leave you behind," a voice behind her said nonchalantly. A tall figure approached next to her, randomly picking sweets of any kind from the shelf, ignoring or even not noticing the girl beside him.

"Don't you think you've already eaten enough sweets today, Atsushi?" His companion replied. Appearing from behind the tall teenager, he was immediately eyed by the girl.

He had slick, black hair that covered his left eye and a mole under his right eye and was about 6 feet tall. Overall she had to admit that he was quite handsome.

"It's not nice to stand in other people's way, Lillychin," the lavender-haired stated, picking the short (compared to him) girl up, after placing his chosen sweets in the arms of his companion, just to set her down next to his friend, afterwards continuing to take chips bags etc. from the shelves.

"M-Murasakibara!" She exclaimed slightly offended, but yet a blush formed her cheeks, an indication of embarrassment.

But called one was ignoring her, since he was only focusing on his precious sweets, while his companion standing next to her chuckled, slightly amused by the situation in front of his eyes.

"That isn't funny at all!" The brunette complained, poking his side with her elbow.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, slightly bowing as far as it was possible with the accumulation of sweets in his arms, "I am Himuro Tatsuya, pleasure to meet you."

Bowing likewise, she introduced herself, "Hajimemashite, I am-," just to be interrupted by her new acquaintance.

"Sayer Kayley, I assume?" He answered for her, "The niece of Horai Itsuki, coach of Teikou Middle School's first basketball-string. And former coach of Teikou's prodigies, the Generation of Miracles."

Caught off guard by his knowledge, she eventually nodded in affirmation anyway, an expression of frustration and exasperation flashing up on her facial features, just to be immediately replaced by guilt.

It was clearly visible for him, as if it was written all over her face, that she was ridden by guilty feelings.

Teikou Junior High was a famous and well-known Middle School, even worldwide, due to their sponsorship for athletes and sports in general.

The news about five basketball prodigies spread like wildfire and the rumors about a sixth phantom player spread in almost the same manner.  
But the news about a thirteen-year-old first-year and on top of that female student, who was going to be the assistant coach of the first string and the personal coach of its prodigies, the Generation of Miracles, were known everywhere in even a shorter amount of time - if that was even possible.

And by then everyone knew about her being the niece of Horai Itsuki and because of a rumor everyone assumes that she is nothing more than a mere girl, getting the chance to be close to the famous basketball team due to her connections. And in the end she had been labeled a fraudster and her uncle had been let go.

In her eyes, she is to be blamed for the dismissal of her uncle and she betrayed the feelings of the team, her friends, by not telling them about herself, her past and her relationship to Itsuki especially. Due to her selfish behaviour, her uncle lost his job and she lost the trust of her friends.

'I'm not in the position to judge their behaviour and decisions, since I've hurt their feelings as well.'

Noticing the brunette spacing out, Himuro called for his friend and handed him the purchase. While Murasakibara made his way to the cashier, the black-haired tried to gain the attention of the brunette in front of him. But for his amusement he noticed that the girl was dozing off, while small tears formed in her eyes, trying to suppress the tears by drifting off to sleep, still clinging to the package of chocolate.

Taking the chocolate from her hands, he carefully picked her drowsy figure up, carrying her on his back.

"Atsushi!" Himuro called, as soon as he approached his lavender-haired friend. He held out the package to him, asking him to pay for it, what he did as soon as he saw the sleeping figure of the brunette on his back.

Outside the store, Murasakibara immediately ripped open a bag of chips, looking at his companion disinterestedly, "Did Lillychin fall asleep again?"

"Again? Do you mean to say that it happened sometime or other times in the past?" The black-haired asked out of curiosity and received a nod in return.

"She used to fall asleep during lunch break or during the way back home from school. I don't know why though."

Even though he didn't admit it, but Himuro wasn't convinced by Murasakibara's words,  
'I'm sure you are fully aware of the reason. She is neither bored nor too exhausted, but simply wants to forget the pain bottled up inside her... And still you are pushing her away from you...'

"What are you doing?" He asked the tall teenager, as soon as he noticed him, searching for something in the pockets of the Teikou jersey jacket the girl was wearing.

Finally locating what he was looking for, he showed her cellphone to the black-haired, shoving it into his hands.

"We'll simply call her uncle, he'll pick her up for sure," he told Himuro about the decision he had made.

Flipping open the cellphone, he started searching for the number as he was indirectly ordered to.

"It's password protected," he stated, lifting one brow, waiting for his friend to tell him what to do now, but since it seemed that he won't get an answer he spoke up again, "Why don't we use your cell instead?"

"We can't," was the simple answer he received.

"Why?"

"I don't have his call number."

Taken aback by the fact that his friend, even though he had been training under Horai's instruction for three years and had been a good friend of his niece (even though he didn't know it back then), haven't had the number of his former coach.

"Huh? But why?"

"Deleted," was the next simple answer he got from the tall teenager and knowing that it would be useless to question him further, he dropped the topic.

Already giving up on an useful idea from his friend, he was all the more surprised when the lavender-haired suddenly asked, "How many letters?"

"Huh?"

"The password."

"Five..," Himuro answered, looking at him with questioningly eyes, curious why he asked for something like that in the first place.

_"I want to be free, Shuuzou... Just like the stars."_

"Mhh..," the lavender-haired seemed kind of lost in thoughts (if that is even possible) and in the end proposed a solution to him, remembering a conversation between Shuuzou and her he had overheard by accident, "hoshi."

Still surprised, but not daring to oppose his words, the black-haired tried to unlock the cell and was, to his utter surprise, successful.

'Atsushi...'

.

Murasakibara was taking care of the sleeping brunette while his friend was calling her uncle in the meantime, asking him to pick her up.

He sat down on a nearby bench, positioning her next to him, her head leaning against him and his arm casually put around her shoulders in order to keep her slightly trembling figure calm.

As soon as he was sure that no one was around and that his friend was out of view, busy talking to Itsuki, telling him about the incident and describing their location, he turned his gaze to look at the girl in his arm, sleeping peacefully with an innocent expression on her face, completely defenseless.

And in the end, he ended up planting a feathery kiss on her forehead.

'Goodbye, Shorty-chan...'

.

"Baka!" The raven-haired shouted as soon as the girl sat down next to him on his bedside, knocking her on the head,  
"I have been worried sick about you since you didn't came even two hours after the time we agreed to meet and now I have to hear about you dozing off during the day again!"

"S-Sumimasen, Shuuzou~," she whined, rubbing her aching head, pouting.

But her attempt to apologize was interrupted by his sudden movement, pulling her roughly by her wrists into his arms.

Due to the welcoming warmth of his arms, she was finally able to calm herself, knowing that he wasn't mad with her, but only worried about her well-being.

Laughing at the couple fooling around, Itsuki was remembered once again that Shuuzou's time at her side was ultimately coming to an end...

.

Some time later Midorima entered the room and declared that the raven-haired was finally allowed to leave the hospital.

"I'll pack your things!" Kayley exclaimed, throwing clean, fresh clothes at him that he could change into while she would collect his things.

"Oi!" The teenager shouted, trying to stop the brunette, but she was already off, busy collecting his things.

"Seems like you'll have to keep everything clean and ordered by yourself in America," Itsuki teased, whispering to Shuuzou who was currently changing clothes, not minding that the brunette was in the room with him, able to see him changing.

That caused the raven-haired to prod him with his elbow playfully, "I think this will be the least of the problems."

.

In tears, the brunette desperately clung to his arm, having no intention of letting go of him.

'If only he could stay with me and protect me like he always does forever...'

Embracing her tightly, he felt the same urge and had the same thoughts and feelings, telling him to never let her go, but - much to his dismay - he had to leave her. But there wasn't a single tear flowing down his cheek.

Slightly pushing her back by her shoulders, he forced her to look into his eyes and he wiped away her tears with his thumbs, smiling at her.

"We'll see each other again soon, Lilly. Don't worry," he tried to calm her down, but it was no use. The tears kept flowing.

"D-don't.. go," she whimpered, not able to accept the facts.

"It's fine, Yukio will stay with you, you won't be alone."

"But I don't want him to!" She shouted, pulling him close again, searching for his warmth, wanting it to engulf her, "I don't want you to leave, I don't want to lose you again, nii-tan."

In attempt to comfort her he rocked her back and forth and finally she calmed down a little, but still clung to him as if it was a matter of life and death.

She felt at ease in the warmth of his embrace, wanting it to last forever, but he pulled apart, leaving her longing for the pleasant warmth.

"You are strong, Lilly. You are the most courageous and cheerfullest person I know. You are kind-hearted and admirable. And you've alway managed to brighten my days. Please, show me your smile again, just one last time. I don't want to leave, knowing that I had to leave you behind crying."

"Shuuz-zou..."

But she simply closed her eyes, not able to bear the pain in her chest anymore, as soon as he pulled away completely, caressing her cheeks with his hands, stopping at her neck.

And to her surprise he suddenly pulled her up to him, being face-to-face with her. She could feel his warm breath on her skin, tickling her.

Slightly opening her eyes, she saw the smiling face of the raven-haired in front of her, waiting patiently for his next movements.

He closed his eyes and quickly closed the gap between them, kissing the brunette passionately. Even though it took her some time to realize what was happening, she kissed back. It was a longing kiss, overwhelming both of them by their feelings, showing each other how much they loved and meant to each other, how hard it was for them to let go.

And many people including his mother and her uncle turned their heads to look at the couple, glancing at them, some looking at them disapprovingly, condemning their behaviour in public.

"You have finally stopped crying," he said delighted, as soon as they broke apart and he opened his eyes. His arms were casually slung around her waist, her hands entangled in his hair.

She freed one of it and reached for her cheek, noticing that he said the truth. Her tears had stopped.

Planting a last kiss on her forehead, he embraced her again tightly, "I know that you are strong enough to manage everything without me. And it's not like we will never see each other again, Lilly. If anything should happen, I will return to you immediately, so make sure to keep in touch with me and keep me up to date, okay? Otherwise you have Yukio by your side and your uncle as well. You don't need to worry. Take care of these brats while I'm gone, will you?"

She nodded in agreement, finally smiling at him.

"I will!"

"And just in case you feel lonely," he started, his hand reaching for the pendant he gave to her on her brother's anniversary, "I will always be by your side. Your nii-tan won't leave you a second time."

"H-Hai!"

She smiled brightly, her breathtaking smile making him blush slightly, but she didn't notice since it was more of a pinkish tint this time. You can say that he finally got used to it.

Taking his hand with one of hers, she placed something in his hand. He furrowed his brows and he looked at his hand confused, wanting to know what she gave him, but she prevented him from doing so by taking his hand in her hands, slightly shaking her head, signalizing him to patiently wait until he entered the plane.

"And now you'll confess your love to her and leave her alone..," Itsuki teased, placing his hand on his chest, expressing the unbearable, heartbreaking pain he felt, theatrically, obviously enjoying himself with making fun of them.

"Ji-san!" The brunette exclaimed, embarrassed by his comment and his acutely childish behaviour, turning a healthy shade of red.

"Don't worry!" Shuuzou countered, grinning triumphantly, pulling her closer by her waist, "I would never leave my imouto-chan crying."

.

Shuuzou and his mother entered the plane after they had said their last goodbyes.

Itsuki and Kayley were waiting in front of a huge window partition, watching the turbines of the plane starting and it finally disappearing into the sky which was tinted in shades of orange and red by the slowly setting sun.

Itsuki looked at his niece to make sure that she was alright, but instead of the trembling figure he expected to see, he didn't see any tears in her eyes and she was smiling brightly.

Relieved that she wasn't sulking about her friends departure, he put his arm around her shoulders, waiting with her until the plane was completely out of view.

"You think you'll be able to live without your 'Prince Charming' around you everyday?" He teased, blinking with one of his eyes.

"I should have know that you would misunderstand the situation. You are an idiot after all," she sighed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

Poking her side, he tried to gain her attention, feeling offended by her last words, but slightly angered her instead, causing her to tickle him, showing no mercy nor the will to stop.

"Ha ha, s-stop it, ha," he managed to say between breaths, but she nevertheless continued tickling him, causing them to end up in a tickling fight.

But soon they were both lying on the floor, breathing heavily. They were lost in their own world, completely ignoring their surroundings and the disapproving looks they received from the visitors and staff members.

"You okay?" Itsuki asked the brunette, since he caught her taking a glimpse outside the window, a shadow heavily lying on her face, as soon as his breath was steadily and he was able to speak normally again.

"No," she answered truthfully, shaking her head to emphasize it, the shadow still lingering on her face, "I'm not."

Turning around to face him, she flashed him her splendid smile, declaring confidently, "But I will be!"

Satisfied with her answer he took her hand and guided her to the exit, to go home.

But before they could reach the corridor, she turned around one last time, still smiling, gazing off into the distance, watching the sun set and the colours in the sky blurring, making space for the upcoming dark.

'Until we meet again, nii-tan.'

And finally she followed her uncle, exiting the airport and making their way home, while her heart and thoughts were still lingering by her dear brother.

.

The plane started without delay after he had taken his seat and finally opened his hand slowly, looking at the keepsake she gave him.

'Arigatou, Lilly...'

* * *

**I think most of you will know this already, but just in case you don't ^^**

**baka = idiot**

**hajimemashite = Nice to meet you!**

**hoshi = star**

**sumimasen = I'm sorry**

**arigatou = thank you**

**ji-san = 'title' for uncle**

**imouto-chan = 'title' for little sister**

**o-nii-chan or o-nii-san = 'title' for older brother (the suffix -tan is the belittlement of -chan)**

* * *

**Here ya go guys! Sorry for the veeery late update...**

**but I've got too much school stuff to do and my teachers are burying me in homework...**

**But at least I managed to update again! And I'll try to update again soon =)**

**Read &amp; Review? =)**

**Updated: June 03, 2014 - Tuesday**

**Thank you to those who voted and commented, and to those who read this, reaching the book more than 1 and a half K reads!**


	11. 10th Quarter - Let the war begin!

It was her first day at Kaijou High and she was currently busy declining offer after offer from the representatives of the different clubs. Even tough she had already explained that she had decided to join the basketball club, they wouldn't give up, still pestering her with questions and offers.

Other groups on the other hand side started speaking badly about her, recognizing the girl in front of their eyes, whispering to each other and finally turning away from the brunette.

Due to the bunch of people surrounding her, infiltrating her personal space, she didn't notice or rather didn't hear the deep voice calling out to her, ambitiously trying to gain her attention, annoyed that she still didn't notice him.

"Oi! Stop ignoring me already!" Someone shouted impatiently, slapping her on the back of her head.

"Ouch..," she whined, covering her aching head with her hands, ducking her head to prevent herself from another hit, "That hurts, Yuki-chan!"

"No complaints!" He replied sharply, grabbing her wrist, roughly pulling her with him.

As soon as they reached the gym, he pushed open the door immediately, entering the gym, while pulling the helpless girl along the whole time.

"Ah! You're finally back, Captain!" Kobori exclaimed happily, already dribbling a basketball, eager to start practicing.

"LET'S GET STALTED ALLEADY!" Hayakawa yelled at the top of his lungs, visibly or rather audibly motivated, while the others twisted their faces in annoyance.

His loud voice filled the gym and Yukio tried to gain their - especially his - attention. Unavailingly.

'Where is Kise?' The brunette thought, her eyes impatiently searching for the blond, knowing that he would get punished by the captain as soon as he found him, skipping practice intentionally.

Grabbing the nerve-racking rascal by the collar, the captain lifted his teammate from the ground, forcing him to be quiet and listen to him, "Stop fooling around and tell me where Kise is instead!"

The players looked at each other, searching for someone able to tell them where the member of the Generation of Miracles, their self-proclaimed ace, has disappeared to, to prevent the punishment they would get, if they didn't know about his whereabouts.

"W-We thought that he was with you the whole time, actually..," Nakamura, who cautiously approached them, summoned up his courage to speak up, trying to explain the situation to the furious captain.

Latter let go of his teammate, causing Hayakawa to fall to the ground, sitting on his butt, complaining about the rude behaviour of his captain, but no one has listened to his complaints, since they were all backing away, seeing the deathly expression on their captain's face, inflamed with rage, a dark aura surrounding him.

"Kise..," he hissed, through clenched teeth.

.

"Oooh, so this is Seirin," the blond male said as soon as he entered the schoolyard of the High School, "As expected from a new school, it looks nice."

His hands in his trouser pockets, he walked across the area, searching for his destination.

"Check that guy, he looks so cool..."

"So tall... Wait, that guy isn't he that model..."

Different voices were being raised, murmuring to each other, but he simply ignored them and continued on his tracks.

.

Entering the gym, the blond finally found what he was looking for.

The Seirin basketball team.

Their coach was busy telling the team about the upcoming practice match against Kaijou High, one of the schools that had a player of the "Generation of Miracles", Kise Ryouta.

"Wait... HUH!?" The coach interrupted their conversation, looking in the direction of the entrance to the gym as soon as she noticed the commotion, "What!? Why ist here such a crowd here!?"

"Aaah, damn... I didn't come for that, but..," someone sighed, surrounded by a host of girls, what gained the attention of the team.

"It has been a while," the phantom sixth player finally spoke up, recognizing his former teammate.

"I'm seriously sorry... Err... Well, do you mind waiting a few minutes?"

.

As soon as the crowd had disappeared he finally approached the team.

"Wha... Why are you here!?" One of the players asked curiously.

"Well, when I heard the next opponent was Seirin, I remembered it was the school Kurokocchi joined," the blond answered turning to his former teammate, "So I came to say hi. Since we were the ones getting along best in Middle School, right?"

"Not particularly," the bluenette answered unfazed, wearing his usual expressionless face.

"SO MEAN~!" Kise whined, false tears forming in his eyes, leaving the rest of the team speechless.

"Wait, this article says... YOU'VE BEEN PLAYING BASKETBALL ONLY FOR TWO YEARS!?" One of the first years exclaimed, showing the article about the model and basketball prodigy to his teammates.

"No, well... This article is exaggerating, really," he tried to reassure them, scratching his neck with his hand, "I'm glad I was called one of the Generation of Miracles, but in other words, that just means I was the weakest of the bunch..," he continued, speaking directly to Kuroko, "That's why Kurokocchi and I were picked on quite often."

"I wasn't particularly picked on, "the 'shadow' denied again.

"WHAT!? I was the only one!?" He whined again.

But his false tears were stopped by a basketball, suddenly thrown hard in his direction by a readhead, eager to pick on a fight with him.

"Sorry to mess up your reunion after a long time, but you didn't come all the way here just for a greeting, right? How about being my opponent for a bit, ikemen-kun."

"Kagami!?" The rest of the team exclaimed, surprised by his declaration.

"Alright, let's do this!" The blond answered, despite the complaints of the team, took of his blazer and started to loosen his tie.

"No, you won't!" Someone interrupted him and he found himself on the ground, due to a blow to the back of his head.

"It's still the same with you. One can never leave you alone without you ending up in trouble," the voice finally sighed, being obviously sick over her repeated sermon.

"Lillycchi, that hurt~ Sometimes you're even worse than Kasamatsu-senpai," the blond whined, as soon as he recognized the owner that belonged to the threatening voice, rubbing his head with his hand, trying to sooth the pain.

"And who are you?" The redhead, visibly angered by her interruption, spit, glaring at her as if to stab her to death with thousands of daggers.

"Sayer-san, it's been a while," Kuroko approached her and bowed slightly, stepping between them.

"Sayer?" The female captain asked the freshman, who nodded in affirmation, "As in Sayer Kayley?"

Smiling the brunette made her way to the coach, sticking out her hand, introducing herself, "Hajimemashite. My name is Sayer Kayley. I'm the former coach of Kuroko-kun and Teme over there," she said, pointing at Kuroko and finally in Kise's direction.

"Ehhh!?" The whole team looked at her, visibly dumbfounded by her introduction, while Kise, still sitting on the floor, pouted after hearing her words of introduction, consciously labeling him as imbecile.

On the other side, Kagami still tried to get the member of the Generation of Miracles to play against him, "So, you are giving up, 'cause some girl, no matter who she is, told you to do so?"

"Of course not!" The blond answered, glaring at him in anger, offended by his words, taking the brunette's hand in an instant, forcing her to face him, "Please, Lillycchi, let me play!"

She tried her best to refuse the teenager, but after seeing the desire sparkling in his eyes, she finally gave in, "You'll get your punishment from Yuki-chan later anyway."

Wearing a smirk of satisfaction, the redhead got all fired up, "So it's decided then."

.

The Seirin team, gathered together and distracted by watching the fierce exchange of blows of the two freshman, didn't notice a certain phantom player talking to the chaperon of the blond.

"You allowed him to play, not only because you were able to see the anticipation in his eyes that he used to have before a match during Middle School, but because you want to see how strong Kagami is, didn't you?" The bluenette asked, glancing at the girl, wearing his usual emotionless expression.

Her eyes, on the other hand side, were fixed on the court, observing the brawlers, watching their every movement.

"You are as observant as always, Kuroko-kun. I'm still not giving up on my dream. And you seem to have high hopes for this human dynamo."

"Do you think he'll be able to play in the same league as the Generation of Miracles one day?"

"I don't know, Kuroko-kun. He sure has the potential capacity, but it's up to him to use it. The only thing I can tell you is that your hot-headed friend right now won't stand a chance against the monster Kise currently is. At least not in the state he is in right now. He's overestimating his own strength."

Nodding in agreement, Kuroko replied, "This might be bad."

"What do you mean, Kuroko-kun?" His coach asked, appearing next to the two of them.

"What Kuroko wanted to indicate is that when Kise has seen a play, he can make it his own in an instant," the brunette answered, averting her gaze to the baffled girl, who focused on the court just to see Kagami getting overwhelmed by the power of the copy-cat, using his own move against him, "This is... the Generation of Miracles."

"Kuroko, isn't your friend way too incredible?" Some player asked him.

"I don't know that person," was the blunt answer he gave, "Honestly, I was thinking naively earlier as well. But... even though I haven't met him in just a few months..."

Stopping to listen to their conversation Kayley lowered her head and closed her eyes, 'The abilities of the Generation of Miracles are evolving at a much higher pace than I expected,' she thought, 'At this rate no one will stop them.'

Gritting her teeth, causing her lower lip to redden and drips of blood to trace her chin by accidentally biting it, she was pulled out of her thoughts by the declaration the blond made.

"Please, give me Kurokocchi. Come to our school, together with Lillycchi and me. Let's play basketball together again."

Everyone inside the gym, in a deuce of a stir, finally stopped chatting, intently listening to the conversation between the former teammates.

"I'm serious, I respect you a lot Kurokocchi! You're just wasting your talent in this place! How about it?"

'No, Kuroko-kun..,' she thought, praying that he will decline the offer, even though she has already known his answer.

"I am honored that you think about me this way. But, I humbly have to refuse that proposal," he declined, much to Kise's dismay.

"That's not like you! Wasn't winning everything for you?" The blond exclaimed, as far as it will go dissatisfied with the turn of events.

"My thinking has changed since that time," the bluenette answered, explaining his decision and feelings, "More importantly, I already made a promise with Kagami-kun. A promise... to defeat the Generation of Miracles."

"That's not like you after all..," the model hissed, clenching his fists, "Saying that kind of jokes."

She readied herself to interfere before the blond would loose his temper, but Kuroko's red-haired friend cut in on Kise, allowing Kuroko to finally reveal his true feelings, "The fact that I am not good with jokes has not changed. I am serious."

His teeth gritted and fists clenched he started walking, aiming for the bluenette, but was immediately stopped by his manager.

"Kise," she plainly said, stepping in front of him, grabbing his shoulder with her hand, trying to calm the raging teenager, "You should accept the fact that he has already chosen the path he wants to take. Let's go back, Yuki-chan is surely waiting for us."

Reluctantly he nodded, not wanting to cause the brunette any further trouble, bidding his farewell to his old teammate and new rival, "Better prepare yourself, next time we'll see each other will be on the court."

This words said he made his way towards the exit of the gym, coming to a halt in front of it, waiting for his chaperon.

Smiling one last time at her former trainee, she followed after the blond towards the exit.

"Lilly," the bluenette called out to her, using the nickname given to her by the Generation of Miracles during their time in Middle School.

Stopping in her tracks she turned around one last time, looking directly at him.

Her eyes, awaiting his reply, met his emotionless blue ones, "I'm sure that we together will be able to fulfill your dream and my promise."

"Let's go on with it," she replied, agreeing with him, knowing that she was patient enough to wait in order to reach her goal, no matter what happened, since she wasn't the person to give up on something easily.

Waving goodbye, she exited the gym, where she encountered Kise at the entrance, waiting for her, his eyes restlessly wandering along the sky, as if to search for something.

"Ready to go?" She asked him. Looking directly at him, she was waiting for his reply. But his eyes were still glued to the clouds floating in the sky.

"Ne, Lillycchi, winning is everything, isn't it?" He whispered, walking past her, heading for Kaijou High.

Biting her lip she forbore herself from answering knowing that she wouldn't say the words he wanted to hear.

'No, Kise, it isn't. You'll see soon enough...'

.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN THE WHOLE TIME!" A raging Kasamatsu yelled as soon as the two reached the gym at Kaijou High at the end of practice times.

The blond, being in his own world, walked past him, ignoring his rough words and the sermon that would follow.

But as soon as the captain wanted to follow him, the brunette blocked his way, saving Kise from the devil and the anticipated punishment.

"Oi!" The captain protested, but she shook her head.

"Leave him alone for now," she requested demandingly, still careful not to anger the already furious Kasamatsu, "I need to talk with you, Yuki-chan."

Walking past him, her last words piquing his interest, she headed straight for the locker rooms.

The Point Guard cast a last glance at the mentally absent blond, but afterwords followed her, partly reluctantly, partly curious.

.

"Hai, but it seems that he isn't aware of it just yet," the voice at the other end of the telephone line agreed.

Looking up at the sky, the brunette heaved a big sigh, becoming aware of the fact, that there was no other way, to get Kise back to his old self, to get the Generation of Miracles back to the persons, to the team, they used to be.

"You know," the voice spoke up once again, "Even though I'm not able to help you with this situation right now, I'm still sure that you made the right decision. I don't know how strong Seirin's team is and if they are able to beat Kaijou's, but I hope that they, as long as Kuroko plays, are able to show Kise the reason he is playing basketball for."

"The reason he plays basketball, huh?" She answered, reminiscing about the games they have won together during Middle School, whereupon she resolved to make him finally remember.

Reaching out for the pendant, her old friend once gave her, she declared her aim, "I'll make sure to show it to him, the true nature of basketball. What it really means to win."

Chuckling, the voice answered, "I know you will, Kayley..."

"Well, it's go in and win, isn't it, Shuuzou?"

.

**. Day of Match: Kaijou vs. Seirin .**

"Ah, there you are," a voice interrupted her thoughts.

She turned her head around to see the captain of the team standing behind her, offering her a hand to get up from the ground.

Sitting under a cherry blossom tree, she mentally prepared herself for the upcoming match.

With the knowledge that he practice match would start in a few minutes, she still didn't seem to get up from where she was sitting.

"Are you alright?" Kasamatsu asked, drawing back his hand to kneel in front of her.

"What would you think, if I say that I wish the team defeat?" She mumbled, looking into his steel-blue eyes.

"What do you mean?" Shocked, his eyes shot open wide, not knowing what the girl was intending to say.

Sighing, she straightened herself, rising from the ground.

Turning around in an attempt to avoid eye contact with the black-haired, "Nevermind..."

With this parting words she left the captain behind, dumbfounded, again puzzled by her weird behaviour. Generally speaking, there are times when he just wasn't able to figure her out.

.

Inside the gym she met Seirin's basketball team, already waiting for the match to start.

Kuroko immediately noticed her arrival and tried to catch her eye.

As soon as they finally built eye contact, he nodded, letting her know that he was ready to play, willing to win against the blond of the Generation of Miracles.

She nodded in return.

'Let's go, Tetsu-chan...'

* * *

**I'm verry sorry for the late update and I know I promised to update soon, but I actually had no time to (due to upcoming exams) and some king of writer's block.**

**But I'm finally back now~**

**Hope you still enjoy reading 'GoM's Coach~' :D**

**Read &amp; Review? =)**

**Updated: November 01, 2014 - Saturday**


	12. 11th Qter - War between former teammates

"No Kise, you won't play!"

The words of the coach hollered through the gym. It was a demand, leaving no room for objections.

"But Coach Takeu-" Kise wanted to object, but the stare he received from his manager caused his voice to die away.

"If you play too, it won't even be a match," his coach explained, provoking protest from Seirin's team.

Leaving an angered Seirin and Kise, who was overwhelmed by guilt, behind, Coach Takeuchi made his way to the bench, while the blond failed to appease his opponents.

"I'ts alright, I'll still be on the bench!"

"It's because he looked down on us!" Kagami mumbled through gritted teeth.

In the meantime, Kuroko made his way to his former coach, nervous, his head ducked, "Sayer-san, how much... does a backboard cost?"

She smiled sympathetically and shrugged her shoulders in nescience, shaking her head.

"Eh!?" Kagami interfered, noticing Kuroko beside the brunette, not able to come to terms with his fate, "We've got to pay for it!?"

While Kuroko and Kagami were busy discussing whether they are in charge of paying, Kayley dared to take a look at Kaijou's coach, only to see his eyes reflecting rage, fury and hatred.

"Kise! Sayer! Come here a second!" The coach's voice hollered through the gym.

They did as told and made their way straight to the bench their coach was again sitting on, "Kise, you will play now and you will take this seriously!"

"Sure thing!" The blond agreed, giving his coach a thumbs up.

"As for you Sayer," he said in a harsh and derogative way, make sure that you talk to the little coach of them. Tell her that she has to take on responsibility for that."

She nodded in understanding and turned around to see the baskets closing down from the ceiling.

'Let's get started.'

"We'll resume the match!" The coach shouted afterwards to gain the players' attention, who were currently taking their respective positions.

The brown-haired manager returned to the bench, before she took a last glance at both teams' aces. But one couldn't be mistaken. Kise was - even compared to Kagami - a monster.

As soon as she averted her gaze, it was easy for her to tell that the opponent's coach had come to the same conclusion.

She sighed in disappoinment, knowing that Seiring won't stand a chance against Kaijou's team. That is, if one doesn't believe in miracles.

But the disappointment was soon replaced by anger and annoyance, when she heard the screaming and crying of Kise's fangirls, causing her eyebrow to twitch and her eyes to narrow, in such a way that she could kill everyone with her gaze in an instant.

"Sayer-san?" Someone addressed her, sensing the tense aura she was emitting, and waved his hand in front of her eyes.

Called one looked up, staring into the eyes of the voice's owner, who backed away as soon as he saw the deadly glance he received.

"Didn't I tell you many times to call me Kayley?" She snarled, blaming him for the anger she was felling that was actually caused by the fangirls.

Eventually, she calmed down, after she saw Kasamatsu hitting Kise, causing latter to cry in pain.

"How long are you gonna keep waving at them! I'll hit you!"

"You already did..," Kise whined, crying false tears.

Satisfied with the outcome, she shot the blond, who approached her, a smile forgetting about her assignment of guilt, "What is it, Shinya?"

The blond sighed in relief, glad that he was able to escape a punishment, he didn't deserve in the first place, and sat down next to her, "Tell me, since you have trained both, Kise and Kuroko, you know about their talents and their weaknesses, who do you think will win this game?"

"This is a question..," she started and lowered her head, her bangs covering her eyes for a moment, before she looked up again, "...that has yet to be answered."

"Y-you don't s-say?" He stuttered, his eyes widened in disbelief and surprise.

"But I do," she countered, "I know both of them well enough to say that both of them will have a chance to win. And even if it might sound preposterous to assume that Seirin could stand a chance against Kaijou's team, I still believe in Kuroko. When it comes to basketball, he knows Kise as well as I do. Kuroko's physical abilities are far from equal to Kise's. But Kuroko is still very strong. In his own kind of way. Kise's self assurance is his greatest weapon. As long as he believes that he can copy a move, it is child's play for him to win a game. But his greatest weapon will be his ruin at the same time."

"You really love to talk in riddles, don't you? Well, why not, just keep trying to explain things, knowing that the person you're talking to wouldn't understand you anyway," Nakamura grumbled, shaking his head in huff.

She laughed soundlessly, looking at him apologetically, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

The referee blew the whistle and the game resumed and Kasamatsu and Kise did exactly what the brunette expected them to do.

They copied the pattern and the moves that Seirin used just moments ago.

"There's still one thing I don't understand," Nakamura mentioned, giving the girl next to him an inquiring look.

She nodded, requesting him to continue.

After he averted his gaze, taking a look at the court again, he asked, "He could have copied every possible move he had copied before. But why did he copy Kagami's right now?"

"Well," she replied, "In basketball, he never forgets to return a favour."

.

The game continued and it soon wasn't anything more than a point-war, both teams scoring equally, the game resuming at a rather high pace.

The defenses of both teams weren't bad, but the offenses were way too strong.

The exchange of blows continued until finally Seirin's coach requested a time-out.

But the battle only started. Kuroko and Kise know each others' strengths...

As well as each others' weaknesses.

This is why Kise was able to explain Kuroko's "misdirection" to his teammates, while Kuroko had to admit to his coach that its efficacy won't last for the whole game.

And as the game resumed, the gap between the scores was increasing bit by bit in Kaijou's favour.

However, Kagami's hearty laughter released general confusion.

"So he understood," Kayley stated in a whisper, nodding in satisfaction.

"Huh?" The blond beside her turned towards her, bewilderment written all over his face.

"Kise's weak point..," she explained for him,"..is Kuroko. No matter how much her tries, he will never be able to go unnoticed. No matter how much he tries, he will never be able to copy Kuroko's style of playing - Kuroko's basketball.

And so the inevitable happened.  
Kise recognized that the basketball Kuroko was playing wasn't that kind of basketball he had used to play in Teikou. And he assumed that, even though he wasn't able to copy his movements, Kuroko's misdirection wouldn't last until the end. But that's when Kuroko started to mark Kise.

Kise was soon restrained by Kuroko's and Kagami's combi, but due to his disorientation, he accidentally hit Kuroko, what led to a wound on Kuroko's forehead, blood dripping off his chin.

But even though he said that he was fine, he lost consciousness afterwards.

"Where are you going?" Nakamura asked the brunette as soon as she rose from the bench and started to make her way towards the court, but she ignored his question.

"It wasn't the end I hoped for, but it's over..," Kasamatsu said, when he noticed the brunette who made her way towards him, "Without these freshman playing together, there's only increasing the points difference left."

He continued as soon as she was right in front of him, whispering, allowing only her to hear his words, "Do you still wish the team defeat? If that is the case, tell me, do you think that here is even now - and even if it is just a very little one - a chance for them to win?"

His piercing gaze locked with her expressionless one. They looked into each others' eyes until she finally broke the eye contact.

She closed her eyes and sighed inaudibly.

"I already thought that much..."

In order to avoid such a depressing conversation, she continued her way, heading for the person she actually wanted to talk to.

But as soon as she saw the guilty and remorseful expression Kise was wearing, she said nothing and grabbed his hand instead, causing him to look at her, his expression not changing in the slightest.

Seeing that his mind was only circling around the bluenette, she reached her hand out and started to caress his cheek.

The blond seemed shocked and confused at first, but she lifted the corners of her mouth, showing him a small but honest smile - one that she would rarely delight someone with - and nodded, telling him that he shouldn't blame himself for what happened and that he shouldn't worry too much about it.

When she was sure that Kise had got the idea, she made her way towards Seirin's bench.

"...What should we do?"

"Kuroko-kun can't play anymore."

"Let me take care of him," the brunette offered, standing next to Seirin's coach.

Eyes widened, she objected and declared that she would take care of him herself, since it was her task as the coach.

"Please," she begged, assuring the coach that she herself was needed by the other players.

Deliberating about whether she should allow the manager of the opposing team to treat her team member's wound, she made up her mind, "Alright, please take good care of him."

"Thank you."

"B-But Coach!" The players tried to protest, but the female waved their claims aside, "It's fine with me and I'm sure that Kuroko wouldn't mind either. And now hurry to the court! The game has to continue."

The players hurried off, taking their positions on court or sat down on the bench for their team, leaving their coach and the manager of the opposing team behind.

"Do you think, he'll be fine?" Aida asked the brunette, trying to build eye contact, while the girl on the other hand tried to avoid it at the same time.

But her eyes were glued at Kuroko's unconscious figure, while she was carefully stroking his hair - cautious not to hurt him.

However, she nodded to assure the other female that he was alright, who thereupon sighed in relief and rose from her kneeling position next to the manager.

She turned around until her back was facing the brunette and her former trainee.

"And what about you?" She asked again and took a last glance at the girl.

This caught the other female's interest and she turned her head to face the second-year coach, giving her a questioning look.

"Will you be okay?"

"So you have seen it?" Kayley whisper-asked, looked at the older female in disbelief, her hands grabbing the hem of her skirt.

But her senpai wasn't able to understand her question and gave her a look asking 'What do you mean?'

She hesitated to answer, but in the end answered nevertheless, "Never mind."

Still wearing a questioning expressing, the coach turned away and left for the bench.

.

'Only three minutes left in the third quarter..,' the brunette thought.  
The look at the scoreboard told her that Kaijou had gained the lead with 74-68 points.

"Coach... is there no way out of this?" One of Seirin's substitute players asked.

"Due to the high pace of the first quarter, they don't have any stamina left. If only Kuroko would be able to play..."

"Sayer-san?"

Called one averted her gaze from the basketball game and looked at the bluenette whose head was resting in her lap.

His eyes were still closed, but he stretched his hand out for her to take, what she gladly did.

"Yes, Kuroko-kun? Are you all right?" She asked as quietly as possible so that only he was able to hear her and turned her head to get a better look at his face, only to look directly into his bright, blue-coloured eyes.

He squeezed her hand in approval and closed his eyes again.

"I'm needed, ain't I?"

"Yes, Kuroko, your team need you, Kagami needs you... and Kise needs you..," she answered, whispering the last part, while she closed her eyes and lowered her head.

"Don't hang your head in disappointment," he said, shot her a small smile and lifted himself up, "Well then, I am going."

"Wait! You're injured, right!?" Seirin's coach complained.

"But the situation on court will change if I go. Furthermore, I made a promise to become Kagami-kun's shadow," he declared, ignoring his injury and making his way towards the court.

"Bu-," the coach wanted to object, but a hand that was placed on her shoulder detained her from stopping the blue-haired first-year.

"Don't worry, he will be alright," she assured her, smiling brightly at her.

"Alright, but if I think that it's too dangerous for him, I'll substitute him immediately."

"Thank you coach," Kuroko said and turned around for a last time, smiling, "And thank you, Lilly."

.

"Seirin won!" The words, shouted by many people - some not able to believe the fact, others quite happy about the outcome - hollered through the gym.

While Seirin's members were laughing, Kaijou's players looked at each other in disbelief.

"We... lost?" The blond-haired member of the Generation of Miracles realized and started crying as a result.

"You idiot!" Kasamatsu screamed and kicked Kise due to irritation caused by the blond's tears, "Stop crying and better add the word "revenge" to your dictionary."

Seirin's team left the schoolyard, everyone of them smiling brightly, while Kaijou's furious coach was watching them leave.

Kise on the other hand was nowhere to be seen.

.

The brunette was leaning against a wall, waiting for the blond to clear his mind.

"Where's Kise?" Someone, who approached next to her, asked.

She looked up at the person that was standing in front of her and forced a smile, "A nice way of greeting someone, you haven't seen in a while, Midorima."

He averted his gaze and pushed his glasses up, "Just show me the way."

She waved her hand and ordered him to follow her.

In the meantime, Kise was cooling himself off with cold water.

"Your sign, Gemini, was supposed to have the worst luck today, but i didn't think you'd actually lose."

"Midorimacchi? And Lillycchi!"

"Well, it was a preposterous match either way. Even though I only came to see the match today, I guess I'll apologize beforehand. A fate where we're defeated by Seirin is impossible. It's a shame, but you should give up on your revenge already."

With this parting words Midorima and his black-haired friend, that arrived only seconds ago, left the scene and made their way back home.

Kise as well started to leave, heading for the gym to change into proper clothes.

"Where are you going, Kise?" The brunette asked him, grabbing his wrist in order to prevent him from leaving.

"I'm going to change. Please let go of me, otherwise, you want to help me undress?" He purred and grabbed her wrists in an attempt to trap her between himself and the wall, what he successfully did.

He slowly closed the gap, diminishing the spaces between her body and the wall and her body and his own.

As a natural reaction, she slapped him across the cheek, leaving a dark red mark behind.

The blond stumbled backwards and looked at her in disbelief and grief.

"Will you please take me seriously? Where are you planning to go afterwards?"

Rubbing his hurting cheek, his facial expression being unusually serious, "I need to talk to Kurokocchi."

* * *

**Here you go guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**I know that I last updated this story three months ago, but I finally finished this chapter after a long time of work. ^^**

**I don't know if I will be able to update once a week from now on, but I'll make sure to at least update three times per month =)**

**Read &amp; Review?**

**Updated: February 02, 2015 - Monday**


End file.
